'Dolphin Tale' Fans Mourn Death Of Film's Star Winter At 16
Newsy
The movie star with a prosthetic tail died this week at 16 years old.
Amy Carmichael lives more than 4,000 miles from the Florida aquarium that housed Winter, the "Dolphin Tale" movie star with a prosthetic tail that died this week at 16. But Carmichael, who has successfully fought leukemia much of her life, felt a strong bond.
"It's not just a dolphin, it's a special dolphin," Carmichael, 17, said by phone from her home in Stonehouse, Scotland on Friday. "She was rescued and had to battle through. I think that made me feel like I can do that. I was battling through, too."
Like many people with illnesses and disabilities, Carmichael got to meet Winter a few years ago at the bottlenose dolphin's home in the Clearwater Marine Aquarium on Florida's Gulf Coast. Those trips inspired people from autistic children to soldiers with missing limbs before Winter died Thursday of a gastrointestinal ailment, saddening fans around the world.
