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Posts: 2640 · Posted: Sun Aug 31, 2008 4:03 pm

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Swimming with Dolphins

Allegra Taylor

“It’s not easy to die when you are only fifteen.”

Those were the words that began the story I heard from Robert White, a North Carolina factory worker. He and his wife were visiting their daughter Lee in the hospital as they did every evening, but Lee had already accepted her fate.

She knew she had an illness that would not spare her. She knew that, in spite of their finest efforts, the doctors couldn’t save her. She suffered a lot, but never complained.

This particular evening, she seemed tranquil and composed, but suddenly she said, “Mama, daddy—I think I’m going to die soon, and I’m afraid. I know I’m going to a better world than this one, and I’m longing for some peace at last, but it’s hard to accept the idea that I’m going to die at only fifteen.”

They could have lied, telling her of course she wasn’t going to die, but they didn’t have the heart. Somehow, her courage was worth more than their pretense. They just cuddled her and cried together.

Then she said, “I always dreamed of falling in love, getting married, having kids... but above all I would have liked to work in a big marine park with dolphins. I’ve loved them and wanted to know more about them since I was little. I still dream of swimming with them, free and happy in the open sea.”

She’d never asked for anything, but now she said with all the strength she could muster, “Daddy, I want to swim in the open sea among the dolphins just once. Maybe then I wouldn’t be so scared of dying.”

It seemed like an absurd, impossible dream, but she, who had given up just about everything else, hung on to it.

Robert and his family talked it over and decided to do everything they could. They had heard of a research center in the Florida Keys, and they phoned them.

“Come at once,” they said. But that was easier said than done.

Lee’s illness had used up all their savings, and they had no idea how they would be able to afford air tickets to Florida. Then their six-year-old, Emily, mentioned that she’d seen something on television about a foundation that grants the wishes of very sick children. She’d actually written down the telephone number in her diary because it seemed like magic to her.

Robert didn’t want to listen. He thought it sounded like a fairy tale or a very sick joke, and he gave in only when Emily started crying and accusing him of not really wanting to help Lee. So he phoned the number and, sure enough, three days later they were all on an airplane and on their way. Emily felt a bit like a fairy godmother who had solved all their problems with a wave of her magic wand.

When they arrived at Grass Key, Lee was pale and terribly thin. The chemotherapy she’d been having had made all her hair fall out, and she looked ghastly, but she didn’t want to rest for a minute and begged her parents to take her straightaway to the dolphins. It was an unforgettable scene. When she got into the water, Lee was already so weak she hardly had the strength to move. They had put her in a wet suit so she wouldn’t get cold and a life preserver to keep her afloat.

Robert towed her out toward the dolphins, Nat and Tursi, who were frolicking about thirty feet away from them. At first they seemed distracted and uninterested, but when Lee called them softly by name, they responded without hesitation. Nat came over first, raised his head and gave her a kiss on the end of her nose. Then Tursi came over and greeted her with a flurry of little high-pitched squeaks of joy. A second later they picked her up with their mighty fins and carried her out to sea with them.

“It feels like I’m flying!” cried Lee, laughing with delight.

Lee’s family hadn’t heard her laugh like that since before she became ill. They could hardly believe it was true, but there she was, gripping Nat’s fin and challenging the wind and the immensity of the ocean. The dolphins stayed with Lee for more than an hour, always tender, always attentive, never using any unnecessary force, always responsive to her wishes.

Maybe it’s true that they are more intelligent and sensitive creatures than man. What was certain was that those marvelous dolphins understood that Lee was dying and wanted to console her as she faced her great journey into the unknown. From the moment they took her in hand, they never left her alone for a second. They got her to play and obeyed her commands with a sweetness that was magical. In their company, Lee found for one last time the enthusiasm and the will to live. She was strong and happy like she used to be. At one point she shouted, “The dolphins have healed me, Daddy!”

There are no words to describe the effect that swim had on her. When she got out of the water, it was as if she had been reborn.

The next day she was too weak to get out of bed. She didn’t even want to talk, but when Robert took her hand she squeezed it and whispered, “Daddy, don’t be sad for me. I’ll never be afraid again. The dolphins have made me understand that I have nothing to fear.” Then she said, “I know I’m going to die tonight. Promise me that you’ll cremate my body and scatter my ashes in the sea where all dolphins swim. They gave me the most beautiful moments of my life. They have left me with a great feeling of peace in my heart, and I know they will be with me on the long journey that lies ahead.”

Just before dawn, Robert’s little girl woke and whispered, “Hold me, Daddy, I’m so cold.” And she died like that in his arms a few minutes later—passing from sleep to death without a ripple. They only realized her suffering was over because her body became colder and heavier.

They cremated her as she wanted and went out the next day to scatter her ashes in the ocean amongst the dolphins. They were all crying—not only Lee’s family, but also the sailors on the boat who had taken them out into the bay. And then, suddenly, through their tears, they saw the great arching silver shapes of Nat and Tursi leaping out of the water ahead.

As Robert recounted, “They had come to take our daughter home.”