DENVER - Many have said laughter is the best medicine since it's said to soothe the soul.
That's something Denver resident Jeff Wren learned when he needed it most.
Jeff 's wife, Lauren, was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis.
"She just crashed. She went from a tremor, to a cane, to a walker, to a wheelchair in three years and bedridden shortly after that," Jeff said.
One night, after a long day as caretaker, Jeff put in a movie he had rented months before: "Patch Adams" starring Robin Williams.
"At the end when he goes in front of the medical school and he says, 'You treat the disease you win, you lose. You treat the person, you win every time, I guarantee it.' I was thinking we are fighting this disease, and I lost sight of Lauren," Jeff said.
After that, he made every day about laughter and fun for Lauren. But something else unexpected came out of it.
"At the end of the movie, there was a number for his free hospital," Jeff said. "I thought, 'I have to call. This movie just made an impact on me. I gotta a call.' He called me back in just a couple of hours, and he said, 'This is Patch. Hi Jeff ' - and I'm like, 'Get out of here .'"
For years, Patch called every Monday.
Lauren passed away in 2001 but still to this day, Patch and Jeff write and email constantly.
Now, Jeff is going to meet Patch in person for the first time on his Russian Clown Tour. Patch takes about 30 people, all dressed up as clowns, to Russian hospitals, orphanages and nursing homes and makes people laugh.
Jeff has been collecting his clown gear for months now equipped with colorful hats, oversized bowties, clown noses, red shoes and everything in between ready to help Patch Adams give others the medicine that's often forgotten but is so essential: Laughter.
9NEWS will be talking with Jeff again once he returns from Russia.
His goal now is to bring Patch to Colorado and have him make the rounds at children's hospitals and nursing homes statewide.
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