Australian Farmer Herds Sheep to Form a Heart in Honor of His Late Aunt
The farmer, Ben Jackson, wasn’t able to attend his aunt’s funeral due to COVID restrictions
An Australian farmer used his sheep for a heartfelt tribute to his aunt after she died.
Ben Jackson recently lost his aunt Debby, who was diagnosed with cancer two years ago, BBC News reported.
Jackson couldn’t travel from the Australian state of New South Wales to Queensland to attend her funeral on Monday due to COVID-19 restrictions, so he crafted a special way to honor his loved one on his farm.
In a video shared to social media on Tuesday, a drone captures the moment that hundreds of Jackson’s sheep are released into a pasture to form a huge heart by following a trail of grain laid out for them.
Jackson told the BBC it took a few attempts to form the heart and that he got the exact pattern down after a “bit of guesswork.”
“There was no way I could get up there and see her, say cheerio, or go to the funeral,” he told the outlet, “So I felt hopeless, helpless — I didn’t really know what to do. But because I was doing a bit of feeding already, I just decided to do a massive heart in the ground, which in all earnest, pales in comparison to hers.”
The farmer’s family received the video ahead of aunt Debby’s funeral and played the sweet clip at the service while Jackson watched on through a live stream.
Jackson told BBC he had done other “sheep artworks” in the past and his aunt, an “incredibly giving” woman, was a fan of the animals’ designs. The video of Jackson’s tribute to his aunt has gone viral since the clip appeared on Twitter.
“She would be proud as punch to see so many people smiling and enjoying the heart I’ve made for her,” he said. “It’s just love. Love’s sensational.”
In an interview with the Associated Press, Jackson shared that he started experimenting with shapes and spelling out his favorite bands’ names by leaving trails of feed for his sheep amid Australia’s drought last year.