Touching scenes as dying man is granted his final wish by paramedics and wheeled on a stretcher to watch a horse race trackside – before the winning jockey gave him a gift to remember
- Nigel Latham wheeled in stretcher bed to trackside at Morphetville in Adelaide
- The 58-year-old was being transported from hospital to palliative care at home
- Paramedics had asked Mr Latham if there was any place he would like to visit
- Mr Latham said he had watched the horse racing in hospital and wanted to visit
A dying man with just days to live was granted his final wish by paramedics to watch a horse race by the trackside.
Nigel Latham, 58, was wheeled in a stretcher across the Morphetville venue in Adelaide, South Australia, on Saturday.
The horse-racing lover was placed just 200 metres away from the finishing line where he watched the races with his wife Julie by his side.
Mr Latham was being transported from the Royal Adelaide Hospital to palliative care at his home so he could spend his final days in comfort with family.
Nigel Latham, 58, was wheeled in a stretcher across the Morphetville venue in Adelaide, South Australia, on Saturday
Paramedics Bec Sanders and her colleague Laura asked the dying man if there was any place he would like to visit one last time.
‘I had been watching the racing in hospital, so wanted to go there,’ Mr Latham told 7 News.
The 58-year-old also cheekily admitted he had some shares in a few horses.
‘Bec and Laura worked miracles and got me there,’ Mr Latham said.
Jockey Craig Williams learned of the heartwarming gesture before he headed down to the racetrack and claimed a victory in Mr Latham’s name.
‘To Nigel, I said to my horse if she’d get over the line we’d make sure we give him the winning goggles and she did her job really well,’ he said.
‘We’d like to be grateful to people like Nigel who support the industry and have his last dying wish (of) coming here today for a great race day.’
One spectator also wandered down to Mr Latham and shared a beer with the fellow horse-racing lover.
News of the gesture by paramedics has travelled overseas where English broadcaster Francesca Cumani tweeted her praise in one astonished word: ‘Wow’.
Jockey Craig Williams learned of the heartwarming gesture before he headed down to the racetrack and claimed a victory in Mr Latham’s name
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