I’ve often wondered about the joy that individuals playing Santa experience throughout the holiday season.

It can’t be an easy job – the pressure of living up to the expectations of every child you encounter would be overwhelming – yet there must be a profound sense of fulfillment at the end of each day.

After all, a good Santa possesses the ability to bring smiles to the faces of all children, regardless of their demeanor. Simply knowing that they’re creating a sense of enchantment in a world that desperately needs it must be like a soothing balm for the soul.

However, few Santas have experienced such a harrowing and poignant circumstance as Eric Schmitt-Matzen, a mechanical engineer and co-owner of Packaging Seals & Engineering, who assumes the role of Father Christmas for events and performances every year.

According to reports, Eric had just returned home from work in 2016 when he received an urgent call from a Tennessee hospital.

On the other end of the line was a nurse who had contacted him because there was a terminally ill five-year-old child in the hospital whose final wish was to meet Santa.

Eric rushed to the hospital, where he met the boy’s mother. She handed him a Paw Patrol figurine that her child had specifically requested for Christmas. Eric accepted the gift, asking the family to wait outside while he spent time with the child – he didn’t want to cry in front of the child if the family became upset.

According to Eric’s account, he entered the ICU, sat at the end of the boy’s bed, and said, “What’s this? I hear you’re going to be missing Christmas this year.”

“They say I’m going to die,” the child responded after opening his present. “How will I know when I arrive at my destination?”

Eric allegedly then asked the child for a favor.

“When you get up to those Pearly Gates, you just tell them you’re Santa’s Number One elf, and I know they’ll let you in,” he continued.

The little child sat up in his bed and hugged Eric tightly. Eric later told reporters that the five-year-old died in his arms.

“He was in my arms when I felt him pass,” Eric said.

“I served four years in the Army with the 75th Rangers and saw a lot of (stuff). But I ran by the nurses’ station, bawling my eyes out.”

Despite the moving experience, Eric’s story faced doubt just days after it went viral in December 2016. The Knoxville News Sentinel, which initially reported the story, included an editor’s note stating that it couldn’t “independently verify” Eric’s statement.

Eric responded, expressing hurt over the doubts about his account’s authenticity.

“I feel like I’ve been used and then hung out to dry,” he told TIME in a text message.

“I emphasized from the very beginning that I intended to keep my word and not disclose any information that could lead to the folks’ identity.”

“Now I’m being made out to be a liar,” he continued. “I attempted to perform a good deed by relaying the tale of what happened to me… and now the press mocks me for maintaining my ground.”

This narrative had the potential to move me to tears. If Eric’s gesture moved you, please write a comment in the box.