A family of a desperately ill man got to say their last goodbyes to him in a locked down residential care home after firemen lifted them up to his fourth-floor window on an extendable ladder.
The family were told that Henry Nijhove, 87, was unlikely to live much longer after his health took a turn for the worse.
Although he was not ill with the coronavirus, restrictions on elderly care homes hindered his family's hopes of visiting him.
But when Amsterdam fire brigade were notified of the problem by Henry's granddaughter, Chante, they agreed to help.
She told them she desperately wanted to make sure that her grandfather did not die without the chance to say goodbye.
The fire crew turned up at the Anton de Komplein residential care home with a ladder and arranged for family members to be lifted up so they could say their farewells.
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They went up in pairs on the extendable ladder, allowing them talk to him one last time.
In total the family was at the hospital for four hours.
A fire brigade spokesman said that when Chante called they did not hesitate before agreeing.
Chante said: "I have no words to express how grateful I am that this was even possible, and that we were allowed to do this.
"It's like I said, we are a really close family, and my grandfather is really everything to us."
She added the emotional meeting through the window ensured that he had a good day, and later she wrote on Facebook that she was "more than grateful. I don't have any other words."
Chante said the family had not been able to see him since March 19 and were confronted with the possibility that they might never see him again before he died.
The bleak reality made her determined to "come up with something to be able to visit him 'physically' one more time".
She added: "I decided to be a bit naughty, and contacted the fire brigade. I didn't write any fancy letters, I just called them and told them the story."
Henry's daughter Mildred also thanked the fire crews for what they did and said they wanted to show Henry that everybody in the family loved him and was there for him.
She added: "This was pretty much the only way he could see his grandchildren again."
