This was lately the case of a male swan that went viral after his partner died from looking after his kids alone. Lately, a set of swans made their homes near the Charles River Esplanade in Boston, Massachusetts. Recently, 9 chicks hatched out to the delight of site visitors, and swans and their children rapidly became regional celebrities.

But her tale recently took a sad turn: the mom swan dropped dead. “Animal Treatment and Control received a call regarding the health of the female swan because she seemed to be shaking her head and she might not get up on her own,” Emma Feeney, the Association’s marketing and occasions coordinator, informed The Dodo. Esplanade. “But when animal control came to the park, the swan was unfortunately over.”

As Boston Animal Control carried off the deceased swan, the father was rapidly seen thinking responsibility for the household and “in the nest with his chicks under his wings.” It was the initial sign that in spite of the loss of their mother, these newborn swans would certainly be fine thanks to their doting father.

The death of the mom swan left site visitors heartbroken, but they continued to visit the lagoon to see the household, and a man named Matthew Raifman captured an inspiring sight that made him compete his video camera. “I noticed something was uncommon,” Matthew told WBZTV. “All the swan chicks got on top of the swan dad.”

He took some photos of the father riding his chicks on his back (with one left in the water). She called it “probably the very best image I have actually ever before taken” and described the situation as “one of the most heartbreaking and moving stories in a long time.” He likewise claimed that as a dad of a little boy, he really felt sorry for the single father swan. “I really felt a kind of lighter spirit in this daddy-swan that’s simply trying to be hard in the face of a pretty challenging life,” Matthew told WBTV.

The swan’s resistance transformed a painful tale right into an inspiring story, and currently locals are heading to the esplanade to see this heroic swan daddy. “They seem great,” Emma Feeney informed The Dodo. “You can inform that he is a great dad to her. He is extremely delicious. “