Original Article: https://blog.theanimalrescuesite.greatergood.com/first-female-mounted-officer-granted-dying-wish/

75-year-old Rita Meredith is thought to have been the UK’s first-ever female mounted police officer. She joined the force back when she was in her 20s.

Since then, Rita had relocated to Australia. However, as she was receiving palliative care in a facility, she did have one final wish: to see and smell a horse, one last time. And her dying wish was granted by the New South Wales Police Force.

Officers from the New South Wales Police Force, Graham and Nicole, went to visit the elderly woman in her care facility. Of course, they weren’t alone in their visit as they were accompanied by their horses, Hollywood and Don. The visit went down quite well with Rita, who had her entire day made by being able to interact with the horses.

Emily Sykes, Rita’s daughter-in-law, shared the touching story on Facebook and included a thank you to the NSW Police for their kind gesture.

Emily wrote about Rita’s past as a police officer in the UK, and how she became a mounted officer two years after initially joining the course.

She said that Rita’s days as a mounted officer are “some of the best she recalls.”

Emily also explained that a friend of Rita’s was the one who got in touch with the NSW Police to inquire about possibly fulfilling Rita’s final wish. As it turns out they were more than happy to – traveling more than 100 miles from Redfern, Sydney, to Newcastle just to make Rita’s wish come true.

Emily added that the officers “were amazingly patient, answered all our questions.” In addition, they also let Rita pet the horses as well as feed them apples.

Naturally, she said there were plenty of tears throughout the experience, but “beautiful memories” were made. She stated that the officers who visited Rita carried out her final wish with “such professionalism, respect, and grace.”

Source: The Animal Rescue Site Blog