Our Hospice Spotlight Volunteer Reflections are shared periodically. Reflections are stories of connection and meaning, presented in the volunteer’s own words. Here is Cathe Kere’s Reflection.
Clancy and His Loving Admirer
Loving a Therapy Dog Inspires Hope in Patient
I have a great story about one patient Clancy and I visited. This patient wanted a visit from a dog, and she only wanted a large dog. She fell instantly in love with Clancy. Although aided by continuous oxygen and monitored by her 24-hour caretakers, the patient couldn’t take her eyes off of Clancy during his visits. She had to pet him constantly and requested that we come every week. So, every Wednesday thereafter, for months, Clancy and I would arrive at her doorstep. One day, she wanted her neighbors to see Clancy, so she took out her walker and walked to the corner, sat down and then waited for people to come by. When nobody stopped, she walked to the other corner until the neighbors finally stopped and chatted with her about the dog and of how beautiful he was to her. The next week she greeted us sitting in a chair outside, and when the neighbors came by again, I took a picture of her sitting with Clancy. The picture was a small gift to her the next time I visited. That was the last time I saw her because she passed away suddenly one week later. Her spouse told me how much she loved Clancy. He said there were days when she would say she didn’t feel like getting up, and he would get ready to cancel Clancy’s visit, but then she would get up and get dressed to wait for him.
I was invited to the service for this patient and there were about 30 people in the room, all of them familiar with Clancy and his effect on the patient. At the family’s request, I went to my car to get Clancy and when we walked into the room everybody turned, looked at us in the doorway and greeted Clancy. It was crazy! So, I walked around and introduced him to the family members and we stayed for 15 minutes. Later, I got a notice that the family made a donation in Clancy’s name to our therapy dog organization. To make that impact on one person, that was just incredible to see!