Posted April 11, 2017 13:22:19

Photo: Carsten Flemming Hansen enjoys a cigarette and glass of wine as his last wish. (Facebook: Aarhus Universitetshospital)

A Denmark hospital has shared a photograph of a 75-year-old patient enjoying his final wish of a cigarette and a glass of wine with his family, while watching the sunset from a hospital balcony.

Carsten Flemming Hansen was admitted to Aarhus University Hospital but was too ill to undergo surgery.

He was told he would likely die within days, if not hours, from internal bleeding.

Mr Hansen told his nurse, Rikke Kvist, of his final wish — and, despite the hospital's no-smoking policy, she went out of her way to grant it.

Ms Kvist told Danish online newspaper Avisen.dk: "I remembered that we are on the same floor that has access to a balcony."

The hospital bed was wheeled out onto the balcony where Mr Hansen, his family, and his nurse watched the sunset together.

"It was a very cozy and relaxed atmosphere," Ms Kvist said.

"Of course they were relatives also affected by the fact that he was going to die, and they were sad. But it was cozy and there was humour."

The hospital shared a photo of Mr Hansen savouring his final cigarette and glass of wine on Facebook, writing: "The family agreed that [in] this situation [what] Carsten Hansen wants [was] more important than the treatment [and] prevention."

Topics: death, health, human-interest, denmark