Heartbreaking & Beautiful 😢💚 — Jane Goodall’s Final Moments Revealed: ‘She Thought of the World, Not Herself.’ Assistant’s Emotional Testimony Leaves Millions in Tears as Legend Says Her Gentle Goodbye

The world is still mourning the loss of Dame Jane Goodall, the legendary primatologist, conservationist, and humanitarian whose life’s work transformed the way humanity understands nature and compassion. Now, in an exclusive interview, her longtime assistant and dear friend, Mary Lewis, has shared deeply personal details about Goodall’s final days — including the last words they exchanged before she passed peacefully at age 91.

Lewis, who worked alongside Goodall for more than three decades through the Jane Goodall Institute, described her final week as “quiet, reflective, and surrounded by love.” Speaking from Goodall’s family home in Bournemouth, she recalled how the pioneering scientist spent her final days doing what she had always done — “teaching, laughing, and caring about everyone else more than herself.”

“Even in her last days, Jane was asking about the chimps in Gombe,” Lewis shared with a soft smile. “She wanted updates on the babies born this year and whether the forest was recovering. She never stopped caring — that’s who she was.”

According to Lewis, Goodall remained mentally sharp and remarkably calm, surrounded by her closest family, a few lifelong friends, and her dog, Bean. In her final conversation with Lewis, just hours before her passing, Goodall offered a simple but profound message that those who knew her say perfectly captured her life’s philosophy.
“She took my hand and said, ‘Don’t be sad for me. Be kind to something today — that’s how I’ll live on.’”

Lewis paused as she recalled those words, her eyes welling with tears. “That’s Jane — no drama, no fear. Just kindness.”

In the days leading up to her passing, Goodall reportedly spent hours outdoors in her garden, enjoying the sound of birds and the autumn breeze. Lewis shared that they would sit together watching the sunrise each morning, often in silence. “She said it reminded her of Gombe — that same sense of belonging and peace,” Lewis remembered.

Friends and colleagues from around the world continued to reach out to her in her final days. Among them were Sir David Attenborough, who sent a handwritten note thanking her for “a lifetime of light,” and Prince William, who called personally to express gratitude for her decades of environmental leadership.

After her passing, Lewis found a handwritten letter on Goodall’s desk, addressed simply: “To all who still believe in hope.” Inside, it read:
“Hope is not naïve — it’s necessary. The moment we stop believing in good, the world truly ends. So keep believing.”

Those words, now framed in the Jane Goodall Institute’s headquarters, have become a guiding message for her team as they continue her work.

Lewis concluded the interview with a quiet smile. “Jane didn’t want us to mourn her. She wanted us to plant something, protect something, and love something. That’s her legacy — and I’ll keep living by it.”