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Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, Khaled al-Enany, welcomed Gloria Walker, 56, on Sunday. Ms Walker is an American cancer patient who flew all the way from Philadelphia to Cairo to realise her lifelong dream of visiting the Pyramids.
The Minister gave Ms Walker a private tour at the Sphinx, which was opened exclusively for her. “Gloria Walker expressed her happiness to meet the Minister, thanking the Ministry for what was done to support her trip to the Pyramids”, the Ministry noted in a release. She expressed “her appreciation for the great hospitality which she saw from the Egyptian people since her arrival”.
As a hospital dietitian, Walker never visited Egypt due to her dislike of flying, yet after being diagnosed with bladder cancer last year. Her son Dustin Vitale launched a fundraiser selling cheesesteak sandwiches to fund the trip and achieve her lifelong dream.
“To my first friend, my best friend, my forever friend. All that I am, or ever hope to be, I owe it to you, my mother. All of my accomplishments are yours. Happy to know that I have made you proud. You deserve the world, my sweet strong mother. I hope to be half the father as you were a mother to me”, he wrote on Instagram.
“Minister Khaled al-Enany invited Gloria to visit Luxor, to give her an opportunity to learn more about the ancient Egyptian civilization”, according to the Ministry’s statement.
At the end of her trip to the pyramids, al-Enany offered Ms Walker a replica of the goddess Ma’aat, considered to be the goddess of justice and truth, to place in her home in Philadelphia, to remind her of her unforgettable visit to Egypt.
