Dying Yorkshire grandfather gets his last wish - to pet a fox at his bedside

Great-granfather-of-eleven, Colin Emmitt, 85, has vascular dementia, and relatives were told six weeks ago that he was on end-of-life care.

Colin loves foxes and has amassed a huge collection of fox ornaments over his lifetime, and loved seeing them in his garden.

A nurse at his care home, Bingley Park, Bradford, contacted Fox Angels Foundation and arranged for a rescue fox to visit the grandad-of-eleven at his bedside.

A delighted Colin got to pet seven-year-old rescue fox Ben on January 19.

Colin's daughter Sharon Dalby, 63, who works in accounts, said: "This was such a beautiful moment. The visit had the most incredible impact on him - he can't remember what he had for tea or lunch after half an hour, but he still remembers Ben from two weeks ago - it's lovely.

"He stayed awake for the whole visit and usually he's dozing off all the time. Foxes are just his animal - he's always been really into them."

Colin, who has four children, was even nicknamed 'fox' by his family.

He worked as a wool sorter, wagon driver, and chauffeur, lived in Bradford, and moved into the care home ten months ago.

Les Hemstock, 60, Ben's owner and handler since 2019, said: "It was really touching. He stroked Ben's face and the pair just looked into each other's eyes transfixed."

Ben is one of a litter of rescued foxes that Les cared for, and Ben bonded too much to be rewilded.

Les has cared for at least five other rescue foxes since taking on Ben.

He said: "I love the beauty and playful nature of foxes, and when people see videos like this and often ask about having foxes as pets.

"Foxes do not make good pets. They are not malicious but will destroy home furnishings for fun and have a very pungent scent. They prefer to be in the wild and should be wherever possible."