When She Extends Her Hand! (Video)

As a 23-year-old, Linda Koebner was a graduate student who was tasked with releasing a group of lab chimpanzees. They have been previously kept in a lab for six whole years, and this was their first opportunity since to see sunlight and experience the outdoors. Naturally, the chimps were frightened and scared. They had never lived outdoors before, and they weren’t sure what the future had in store for them. Linda was responsible for helping them reintegrate with the wild and outdoor life. She became a surrogate mother in a sense and taught them how to survive.

After spending four years working with two chimpanzees named Doll and Swing, they eventually were deemed fit to survive on their own outside. Linda was reassigned, and she left the two chimps in their natural habitat. Koebner said the chimpanzees have taught her so much about our own social lives. “These chimpanzees have taught me about resilience. All of these have gone through such tremendous adversity, and yet they’re forgiving, and they’re whole again.” Nearly two decades later, Linda returned to check on her beloved friends. She never could have predicted what happened when she and the chimps came face to face for the first time in 18 years.

After eighteen years apart!

In the video, Linda visits Doll and Swing after spending eighteen years apart. While she’s fairly sure the chimps won’t remember her, she still wanted to visit them. What happened next completely caught her by surprise. Linda approaches the chimps with no idea how they would react. Then, she extends her hand towards Swing, and the most amazing happens. Watch the video, it’s a tear-jerking reunion that left Linda in tears and touched my heart too!