Reddit user u/Ralph–Hinkley shared the photo of his mother-in-law Donna to the r/pics forum on 20 June. Donna’s smile is beaming as she paddles in the ocean, not letting her chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) dim her shine.

Redditors couldn’t get enough of the woman’s reaction, describing the image as “sheer joy.” In less than 24 hours, the post has received almost 40,000 upvotes and more than 600 comments.

“Love how happy/surprised she looks,” said calm_chowder.

“It’s never too late!!” commented Wendellberryfan_2022.

“She is so happy. I think she had a great day,” said aladyoragentleman, to which Ralph–Hinkley replied: “This picture made me cry.”

It may be surprising to some that Ralph–Hinkley’s mother-in-law had never seen the ocean, but according to a 2019 survey by OnePoll and Victorinox, 11 percent of U.S. citizens have never left the state they were born in.

Of the 2,000 people surveyed, 13 percent have never traveled by plane, while 54 percent have visited 10 states or less. Some 85 percent expressed a desire to travel, but cited a lack of funds or a fear of the unknown as obstacles.

Redditors shared their own stories of visiting the ocean for the first time.

“I didn’t see the ocean for the first time until I was 23,” said istrx13. “My family was basically always broke when I was growing up so vacations never happened.

“I finally got to see it with my wife on our honeymoon. I remember actually gasping when I first saw it and actually teared up a bit with excitement.”

“I was 42,” wrote jemiller226. “I stepped into the Atlantic Ocean in June 2021 and then into the Pacific Ocean a week later, which was also a day after the first time I’d ever been on a plane.”

AKA_Squanchy said: “I adopted an older child (6.5) from Ethiopia. She did not speak much English. We live in SoCal, so we frequent the beach.

“The first time she saw the ocean she started yelling, “BIG WATER! BIG WATER!” It was great to see that.”

User Regulator24350 reminded people to never take the ocean for granted.

They wrote: “After seeing this and some of the comments I’m dumbfounded at how much I’ve taken the ocean for granted my whole life.

“Makes me want to drag people out from the middle of the country to show them the ocean.”

Newsweek has reached out to u/Ralph–Hinkley for comment.