Gorillas in the Dream

The below is Derricks story or a Dream held and now answered

“Derrick has a palliative diagnosis of Cancer and has always wanted to see gorillas (his favourite animal) and share the experience, as he does his life, alongside his partner Denise.

Derricks nurse Laura was the one who contacted the charity, she wanted to do something special for them as a surprise, something that she knew would make Derrick smile.

Within a week on contacting Evestrust, we were assigned a Dreams Coordinator, Baileigh-Jade, who told us she had found a special gorilla encounter for two at Twycross Zoo! Including a two night overnight stay in a hotel close by so that Derick wasn’t tired from the drive both before the encounter and afterwards! Derrick was so excited to hear the news and ensured them he would be fit enough to fulfil anything that was needed to make this happen.

The day of the gorilla encounter soon came round and would include Derrick and Denise joining a private group to see the keepers train the Gorillas. They were even surprised with being able to feed the Gorillas themselves, watching them put their hands through the bars for nail cutting training.

The hole experience was so magical, its hard to put into words, but the smile on Derricks face said it all.

But, the day didn’t end there. Derrick and Denise would spend hours riding around the zoo with their own guide/keeper, who pointed out many animals and happily spoke about their care. He saw lots of different types of monkeys, tigers, penguins, zebras and penguins! Then after days activities they laid on a brilliant afternoon tea for two!

Twycross Zoo even gifted Derrick a framed handprint from “Biddy” the Western Lowland Gorilla! He was over the moon!

He thoroughly enjoyed every moment and can’t thank Evestrust enough for making this happen for him!”