NSW ambulance grant woman’s dying wish to see the sunset one last time

NSW paramedics helped grant a dying Sydney woman’s final wish come true, just days before she lost her battle to bowel cancer.

A western Sydney woman, living with advanced bowel cancer, was granted a special final wish with her beloved husband, two days before her death.

Carmen and Antonio Leon de la Barra have walked along the Brighton-Le-Sands beach, in Sydney’s south, to watch the sunset together for more than two decades.

The Daily Telegraph reports Mr and Mrs Leon de la Barra began their walks in 1995 and have rarely missed a day since.

The couple migrated to Sydney in 1989, founded an accountancy firm together in Mascot and spent the next decades building their family.

Originally from Chile, Mr and Mrs Leon de la Barra would finish work at the accountancy firm, fill up a Thermos of tea and walk along the Brighton-Le-Sands beach together as they waited out the hectic peak-hour traffic.

They would then hop in their car and head home.

Carmen and Antonio Leon de la Barra in happier times.

After being diagnosed with bowel cancer, Mrs Leon de la Barra’s deteriorating health meant she was unable to work or travel to watch the sunset with her husband.

Daughter Tatiana Salloum said her mother had been in palliative care, in Sydney’s west, but had wanted to visit the ocean with her family one last time.

“It was at least two or three months since Mum had seen the water,” Ms Salloum told The Daily Telegraph.

“Dad couldn’t take her because of the distance and because of how sick she was.”

Instead, Ms Salloum applied to charity organisation Dreams2Live4 last week to help her mother see an ocean sunset one last time.

Carmen Leon de la Barra was taken on a trip to Brighton-Le-Sands beach by NSW Ambulance.

The following afternoon, plans were made to get her mother to the beach on Wednesday.

“When I told them Mum only had a few hours or days to live it became their mission to make it happen,” Ms Salloum said.

“Myself, my father, my two brothers, partners and seven of the nine grandchildren all headed to the beach from Mt Druitt.”

The family followed a NSW Ambulance vehicle, carrying Mrs Leon de la Barra, all the way to Brighton-Le-Sands beach.

“Mum had been sleeping a lot, but when we got to the beach she knew where she was and managed to open her eyes,” Ms Salloum said.

NSW Ambulance took Mrs Leon de la Barra to Brighton-Le-Sands.

Mrs Leon de la Barra waves from her stretcher inside the ambulance.

Surrounded by her husband, three children and grandchildren, Mrs Leon de la Barra was said to have been extremely happy by the beautiful sunset sight before her.

A Thermos full of tea was even tucked in beside her on the stretcher, like it had been for the last two decades.

Tragically, the trip was the last time Mrs Leon de la Barra would ever see the ocean.

She passed away two days later on Friday at 9.30pm.

Mrs Leon de la Barra was taken to the beach with a Thermos full of tea.

Mrs Leon de la Barra was “so happy” to have been granted her dying wish.

According to her daughter, Mrs Leon de la Barra managed to open her eyes and was “so happy”.

Hawkesbury Hospital paramedic Jeff Gadd told The Daily Telegraph it was one of the nicest jobs he had ever been on.

“It’s … one of the first times in 15 years I’ve done something like this,” Mr Gadd said.

“It was such a simple job but very rewarding.”

Originally published as NSW ambulance grant woman’s dying wish to see the sunset one last time