The man who brought Big Bird to life faced his own set of hardships, as he told Esquire earlier this week. But nothing could compare to the harrowing story he told on Reddit about a child dying of cancer. As Caroll Spinney detailed in his Ask Me Anything today, the five year old fan named Joey had written Spinney a letter saying the only thing that cheered him up was watching Big Bird on television. Here is his story:
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."
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."
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."
Carol Spinney Big Bird Heartbreaking Child Cancer Story
Spinney is the subject of an intelligent new documentary, I Am Big Bird, that came out this week.
Fuck I'm thankful I have two healthy kids, stories like this are heart wrenching.
