Zachary’s Paws for Healing
[projekktor id=’22184′]
A new program at Juravinski Hospital allows patients a visit with their pets. 18-year old Jules Caspersen has chronic i@ntestinal problems and is often in and out of hospital, away from her pets. She’s been at Juravinski Hospital for a month and a half, longing for the comfort her dog hayden brings. “It’s special and it makes me just super happy. I’m just focusing on him and not my pain. I don’t really notice it at all.”
The visit is made possible through a new program called Zachary’s Paws for Healing. The first of its kind in Canada, bringing a patient’s own pet to their hospital bed. Patients who are staying in the hospital long term can have a visit with their pet every week. Since starting in September, Zachary’s Paws has done 28 visits. The program’s founder, Donna Jenkins, was inspired by her nephew, Zachary, who died of cancer one year ago. She made sure he was able to visit with his dog at Juravinski, and promised to do the same for other patients. “When they see their companion pet, and the unconditional love, it reminds them it’s okay. You know, I’ll be okay. and I have a reason to and want to get well and go home.”
Contact with pets has been proven to benefit patients. For some, the visits are an inspiration to get well. For others, like volunteer, David Lang’s mother-in-law, they’re a final goodbye. “Nothing mattered. She was in no pain, she wasn’t worrying about the procedure she was supposed to have. She forgot everything.”
It gives patients the unconditional love only a pet can offer. “It doesn’t matter, man, woman, senior or young. They all react the same way. Joy. That’s what we bring to these patients is joy and a little comfort.”
When they need it most.
