Students help woman's last wish of visiting the Phoenix Zoo come true

PHOENIX - A dream come true for one Valley woman on Monday, Nov. 9 as she visited the Phoenix Zoo for what could be her last time.

It was a special morning for Marie Krombholz, 66, and she will remember this trip most of all, because it was made possible by the love of strangers.

She took in the precious moments with her family at her side, saying she is “really happy, just really happy." That’s because it may be her last visit with the animals.

Krombholz is battling grade 4 glioblastoma, an aggressive cancer that forms in the brain or spinal cord. Recently, she stopped her chemo treatments.

“They can’t give me an exact number. They gave me three to five years and I have already gone through two," Krombholz said.

She and her husband would visit the zoo on a monthly basis until COVID-19 hit and her prognosis worsened.

“It was on my bucket list because I haven’t been here in a while and I didn’t know how much longer I had,” she said. That is when Red Mountain High School’s DreamCatchers Club heard about her final wish to visit the zoo.

“Our mission is to fulfill dreams of hospice patients so we get in contact with local hospices," explained Tatum Molina with DreamCatchers Club.

The club raised the money for her tickets and spent some time with her before her special day. "Just being able to see her smiles and know they are happy and can be with their family, we can be a part of the day, it’s so special to us," Molina said.

Krombholtz says knowing this day was made possible by a group of high schoolers she has never met makes her last day at the zoo her dream come true.

Krombholz used to show horses, so she spent much of the morning watching them.

The DreamCatchers Club says they have fulfilled the dreams of dozens. If you'd like to learn more about the club, visit this link.