Tansy Aspinall grew up in the British countryside like many other girls in her area. She went to school, had friends, and enjoyed a variety of hobbies. She really was just like any other little kid… Except she lived with gorillas! That’s right, she grew up with her parents running The Aspinall Foundation, a sanctuary for raising gorillas. Including Bimms, a gorilla she was especially close to left for the jungle when she was eleven…

Twelve years later and she joins her parents as they jet into the wild to catch up with Bimms and see how he’s getting along. And their reunion is just so touching…

“My sister Clary and I often played with Djalta and Bimms on the lawn and sometimes we went into the cages with other gorillas”, Tansy says. “I loved being around them all, but those two guys were really very special to us, like our relatives. He definitely recognized me. He was so sweet and he was hugging me and being so gentle. He’s 18 now.”

The way that the primate recognizes her is just fantastic. Here’s more on the incredible story: