Wisconsin man's dying wish goes viral: 'He's doing what he wanted to do'

A Wisconsin grandfather's final wish to have one last beer with his sons has gone viral.

On Nov. 20, Adam Schemm took to Twitter to share a photo of his grandfather, 87-year-old Appleton resident Norbert Schemm, holding a beer with his sons.

"My grandfather passed away today," Adam wrote. "Last night all he wanted to do was to have one last beer with his sons."

By Monday morning, Adam's tweet received more than 335,000 likes and over 5,000 comments.

"This one's for your grandfather," one person wrote in response, while sharing a photo of himself holding a beer. "What a beautiful moment. I wish I could have shared one last one with mine. My deepest condolences, and I wish you all the best @AdamSchemm"

Ben Riggs, another Twitter user from Indianapolis, shared a similarly touching story in which his grandfather asked for a cigar and beer in the days leading up to his death.

"I don't know you... but I felt this," Riggs tweeted. "Days before my grandpa passed he let my dad and I know he wanted a cigar and a beer. We made it happen. I'm so sorry for your loss. Your grandpas smile is one for the books!"

In an interview with BBC, Adam, who received the photo in his family's WhatsApp chat, said his grandfather had suffered from cancer.

"My grandpa had been relatively healthy over the course of his life, but it was on the Sunday last week while he was in hospital that they realized it would be the end," he said. "He called his grandchildren to tell us on the Monday. We took the picture Tuesday night and then he died from stage four colon cancer on Wednesday."

Adam admitted that he was initially hesitant to share the photo but decided to go ahead since it captured a heartwarming moment.

"I can tell my grandpa is smiling," he told BBC. "He's doing what he wanted to do — it was an impromptu moment."

Since then, he has been overwhelmed by the number of responses he's received.

"It seems to have tapped into a sense of community and clearly is a moment lots of people relate to," Adam said. "The comments have been so kind, and we've seen pictures of people toasting bottles of beer in his honor. I thought people I knew might want to see it and respond but had no idea just how many people it seems to have helped."