Big Bird’s Caroll Spinney Calls Dying 5-Year-Old Fan, Making Him Smile Before He Took His Last Breath

Big Bird’s Caroll Spinney, who also serves as the puppeteer of Oscar the Grouch on Sesame Street, made a dying 5-year-old’s dream come true right before he took his last breath.

Spinney told the heartbreaking story during a Q&A on Reddit when a user asked, “What has been your most meaningful interaction with a child during filming? Or maybe from someone who grew up watching you and relayed a poignant story?”

Caroll went on to explain how he met 5-year-old Joey, who was dying of cancer.

“Okay, here’s one,” Spinney wrote. “This is a very sad story, but it’s real.”

Joey’s father had sent Spinney a letter, telling him about his ailing son and his love for Big Bird. He asked if there was any way that Spinney could call him as Big Bird, as seeing him on television was all that would make him smile. Spinney agreed and made the phone call as soon as possible.

“I got a letter from a fan who said his little boy, who was 5 years old, his name was Joey, he was dying of cancer.

And he was so ill, the little boy knew he was dying.

So the man, in his letter, asked if I would call the little boy. He said the only thing that cheered him at all in his fading state was to see Big Bird on television.

So once in a while, he wouldn’t see Big Bird on some days, because he wasn’t necessarily in every show. So he asked could I telephone him, and talk to the boy, tell him what a good boy he’s been.

So I took a while to look up a phone, because this was before cell phones. And they got a long cord to bring a phone to the boy.

And I had Big Bird say ‘Hello! Hello Joey! It’s me, Big Bird!’

So he said ‘Is it really you, Big Bird?’

‘Yes, it is.’

I chatted a while with him, about ten minutes, and he said ‘I’m glad you’re my friend Big Bird.’

And I said ‘I’d better let you go now.’

He said ‘Thank you for calling me Big Bird. You’re my friend. You make me happy.'”

Joey was very sick on the day Spinney called him. So sick that his parents had been called in because they weren’t sure how much longer he had. Joey was so excited to receive the phone call and gushed to his parents that Big Bird was his friend.

“And it turns out that his father and mother were sitting with him when the phone call came. And he was very, very ill that day. And they called the parents in, because they weren’t sure how long he’d last.

And so his father wrote to me right away, and said ‘Thank you, thank you’ — he hadn’t seen him smile since October, and this was in March – and when the phone was hung up, he said ‘Big Bird called me! He’s my friend.'”

The most gut-wrenching part of the story is what happened next. Shortly after hanging up the phone, Joey smiled, closed his eyes, and took his final breath. Spinney later heard of Joey’s death through a separate letter from his father.

“And he closed his eyes. And he passed away.

And I could see that what I say to children can be very important.

And he said ‘We haven’t seen our little boy smile in MONTHS. He smiled, as he passed away. It was a gift to us. Thank you.'”

What do you think about Caroll Spinney’s touching story? Leave your comments below.

[Photo by Laura Cavanaugh/Getty Images]