Emotional Military Daddy, Daughter Surprise Reunion At Brookfield Zoo
CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thursday's 1 p.m. dolphin show at Brookfield Zoo was the site of an emotional reunion for a military family from the Sycamore area.
April Flury and her 12-year-old Kristi had a mother-daughter day at the zoo. While attending the 1 p.m. Dolphins in Action show, the two were chosen from the audience to greet and touch a dolphin.
Little did Kristi know there was an even bigger surprise in store...
She was then surprised to also be greeted by her father, Captain Josh Flury of the U.S. Army Reserves, who has been in Kuwait and made a surprise appearance.
Like a scene from a movie, she ran up to her father and jumped into his arms.
"At first when I looked at him I thought I was in a dream and that I was going to wake up soon," Kristi Flury said.
"At first coming out here I was a real nervous, but as soon as I saw her everybody else disappeared," Josh Flury said.
Father, daughter, mother and many others had tears in their eyes as father and daughter embraced and the crowd went wild.
April Flury contacted the zoo at the end of June and worked with Brookfield Zoo staff for weeks to keep the whole thing a secret.
Josh Flury is a Captain in the United States Army Reserves who is currently a Projects Officer in Kuwait. He came home a few weeks early after a 10-month deployment to spend time with Kristi before she started the new school year.
He had a previous one in Afghanistan from 2012-2013.
