Mourners grant teacher's dying wish by bringing backpacks for needy students instead of flowers to her funeral
A teacher’s inspiring last wish has moved thousands of people after a picture was shared online showing a chapel filled with backpacks.
Teacher Tammy Waddell of Georgia died from cancer earlier in June. Before her death, Waddell asked loved ones to bring bags containing supplies for disadvantaged students to her funeral rather than flowers, NBC affiliate 11 Alive reports.
An image shared on Twitter by her cousin, Brad Johnson, shows numerous backpacks placed alongside church pews and at the altar.
Johnson described his cousin as a “teacher to the end.”
Johnson shared a second image showing teachers lined up with bags outside the church.
“She had about 100 teachers as honorary pallbearers who carried the backpacks out and back to their schools,” he wrote on Twitter. “It was heartwarming.”
Many people said they have been inspired by Waddell’s last wishes.
“I am revising my final requests to include this,” one teacher wrote online.
“What a wonderful tribute, gift, and legacy!” read another comment. “Your cousin must have been a wonderful person.”
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