A man rescued an injured gorilla from the forest when she was still a tiny baby. She was lying in the wet grass, not moving, and there was a wound on her paw. The baby was barely breathing. The man couldn’t walk past — he carefully wrapped her in his coat and carried her home.

He took care of the little one, changed her bandages, fed her from a bottle, warmed her by the fireplace, and talked to her as if she were a child.

The gorilla quickly got used to her rescuer, and he to her. They lived together for several months, and the gorilla gradually grew — strong, powerful, but with surprisingly kind eyes.

However, by law, keeping a wild animal at home was forbidden. One day neighbors, noticing a large animal in the window, reported the violation.

The next day, animal protection officers arrived at the man’s home. He begged them not to take the pet, insisted she wouldn’t harm anyone, but the decision had already been made.

The gorilla was taken away, and the old man was left in an empty house. He sat for a long time by the empty cage, stroked the old rope the gorilla once played with, and cried, unable to accept the loss.

Years passed. The gorilla was moved to a local zoo where she quickly adapted to the new conditions. The staff were amazed by how intelligent and calm she was — she never showed aggression, always watched people with a special kind of interest.

Meanwhile, the old man was diagnosed with brain cancer. The disease progressed rapidly, and doctors gave him no chance — a month, maybe two. He barely got out of bed, ate little, and spoke little, but one thought didn’t leave his mind — he wanted to see his friend, the gorilla, one last time.

His story was written about in a local newspaper, and the zoo management, deeply touched, decided to fulfill his last wish.