This tale of transition and transformation was told me by Robert White, an American factory worker from North Carolina. The story had begun when Robert and his wife went to visit their daughter Lee in hospital as they did every evening.
'It's not easy to die when you are fifteen, but Lee had already accepted her fate,' said Robert. As he spoke, his eyes were full of tears and he could barely keep his voice steady. '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.'
'We could have lied, telling her of course she wasn't going to die, but we didn't have the heart. Somehow her courage was worth more than our pretence. We 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 ask for anything, but now she said with all the strength that 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.
'My wife and I talked it over and decided to do everything we could. We had heard of a research centre in the Florida Keys and we phoned them. 'Come at once,' they said. But that was easier said than done. Lee's illness had used up all our savings and we had no idea how we would be able to afford air tickets to Florida. Then our 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.
'I didn't want to listen. I thought it sounded like a fairy tale or a very sick joke and I gave in only when Emily started crying and accusing me of not really wanting to help Lee. So I phoned the number and three days later we were all on our way. Emily felt a bit like a fairy god-mother who had solved all our problems with a wave of her magic wand.
'When we 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 us to take her straight 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. We had to put her in a wet suit so she wouldn't get cold and a life preserver to keep her afloat.
'I towed her out towards the two dolphins, Nat and Tursi, who were frolicking around about thirty feet away from us. 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, I hadn't heard her laugh like that since before she became ill. I 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. I know for certain that those marvellous 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!'
'The next day she was too weak to get out of bed. She didn't even want to talk, but when I 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 the dolphins live. 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 she woke and said, 'Hold me, Daddy, I'm so cold.' And she died like that in my arms a few minutes later - passing from sleep to death without a ripple. I only realised her suffering was over because her body became colder and heavier.
'We cremated her as she wanted and went out the next day to scatter her ashes in the ocean amongst the dolphins. We were all crying, I'm not ashamed to say; not just my wife and I and our three other children, but even the sailors on the boat that had taken us out into the bay. Suddenly, through our tears, we saw the great arching silver shapes of Nat and Tursi leaping out of the water ahead of us. They had come to take our daughter home.'
- Allegra Taylor, 6 Amyand Park Gardens, Twickenham TW1 3HS (tel 081 892 3172).
- In the UK, the Starlight Foundation, 8a Bloomsbury Square, London WC1A 2LP (tel 071 430 1642; fax 071 430 1482) is a registered charity which tries to grant the wishes of children who are 'chronically, critically or terminally ill.'
- Re dolphin therapy in the UK, particularly its striking results in cases of depression, contact Dr Horace Dobbs, Operation Sunflower, International Dolphin Watch, Parklands, North Ferriby, Humberside HU14 3ET, UK, tel 0482 634895; fax 0482 634914. To become a member and to receive the Dolphin newsletter send L8 (L4 under 16).