KISS bassist Gene Simmons granted a dying teenager’s wish by visiting him in his hospital bed.
The bassist and singer spent time with 17-year-old Dilan Kohn at the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) at the Children’s Hospital of Nevada in Las Vegas last week. Dilan died a few days after Simmons’ visit, but staff have thanked him for making the youngster’s dream come true.
A statement from staff at University Medical Center, where the Children’s Hospital is based, says: “Last week, one of our patients, Dilan Kohn, got his final wish. The critically ill 17-year-old desperately wanted to meet and hang out with the rock’n’roll musician, Gene Simmons, from the band Kiss.
“Mr Simmons had not only been Dilan’s idol, but also his inspiration growing up. Mr Simmons was sent an email request last Thursday afternoon and flew into Vegas the next morning. He showed up with a big bag full of signed memorabilia just for Dilan.
“The two hung out, shared stories and laughed together for well over an hour while staff looked on with tears in their eyes. Thank you Mr Simmons for making this wish come true just in time.
“Unfortunately Dilan passed away peacefully a couple days later.”
Simmons shared the hospital’s statement on his own Facebook page.
additional source: classicrock.teamrock.com
25 Responses
Alright Gene, way to go. And also…thank you Dana for putting this one up here. It’s tough to keep hearing all about our rock heroes fighting with each other, getting into whatever bad s–t, etc, etc,.. Nice to have some balance and see a story about one of them doing something great. Reminds me of the “Rock Icon” special I saw on VH1 about Rob Halford visiting a terminal patient who was a huge Priest fan and few days before his passing. Also, heard stories of Johnny Depp visiting kids in hospitals in his full Jack Sparrow pirate costume. Great stuff!
Awesome of Gene to visit this fan. It’s great to know that he did this kind act. This act, plus his recent comments about Lemmy and Bowie, show The Demon is polished and has a big heart. Way to go, Gene!!
Class act, big guy.
Genes not bad guy Supports our troops took time out from a busy schedule (knowing gene it’s really busy) to hang with the kid. Can be a putz sometime but did good this time go God of Thunder
Gene may seem like a jerk on a business level, but I think personally he is really a nice person.
I briefly met him once and he couldn’t have been nicer to me.