Christmas may be weeks away but a terminally ill 5-year-old boy in the US state of Tennessee had his last wish fulfilled, dying in the arms of Santa Claus after he was afraid that he would miss Christmas.
Eric Schmitt-Matzen, whose 136-kg frame and real white beard and curled mustache make him a popular Santa in Knoxville city.
“When I got there, it was my job to make sure he got Christmas,” Schmitt-Matzen told NBC affiliate WBIR channel through tears.
Schmitt-Matzen said he had just returned home from work about a month and a half ago a when a nurse at a local hospital called him and said she had a very sick child who wanted to see Santa.
“He was more concerned about missing Christmas, than dying,” Schmitt-Matzen said.
After he arrived at the hospital room within 15 minutes, Schmitt-Matzen asked the boy, “What’s this I hear you’re going to be missing Christmas this yearIJ” That’s when the boy told him he heard he was going to die. “Well, you’re not going to miss Christmas, the elves already had your present, we knew you wanted this for a long time,” he said he told the boy.