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Dogs are man’s best friends and this is not in question. They are the best company you can have when things start to get tough.
For this man, his dog was the one who stayed by his side at all times. This story is very sad but shows the beautiful bond between man and dog.
John Vincent was a veteran sailor who served in Vietnam and is in the last moments of his life.
The 69-year-old was admitted to hospice care at the Raymond G. Murphy Veterans Affairs Medical Center.
Sadly, this also meant having to part ways with his beloved dog, Patch, a 5-year-old Yorkshire terrier. Since he had no family in the area, he surrendered the dog to Albuquerque Animal Welfare.
John was asked by the nurses what his last wish was. “I asked him if that’s something that would be meaningful for him,” Amy Neal told. “And it came together very quickly.”
“When the request came in, it was an immediate ‘absolutely,’ and let’s do whatever we can to get it done,” said Danny Nevarez, director of Animal Welfare. “It was as simple as getting Patch over here.”
John was very sad to see his old friend.
“Yeah, that’s me, that’s Daddy,” Vincent said to Patch. “Are you so happy to see me? I’m so happy to see you.”
Patch was reportedly quiet during the ride but became emotional as they approached the hospital.
“It’s almost like he knew, he just started whimpering,” Nevares told the Journal. “Like he had that anticipation.”
Vincent adopted Patch when a neighbor had a litter of puppies. He named the dog after his little patch of white fur, which matched John’s sole patch of white chin hair.
“We were the patch brothers,” Vincent said. He says he also liked that Patch was the smallest of the litter, so he could take him for rides on his motorcycle.
It was indeed a very touching meeting between two old friends.
“It was such a heartwarming moment!” Albuquerque Animal Welfare wrote on Facebook. “They were so happy to see each other and to say their goodbyes.”
“It was an honor to make this veteran’s final wish come true.”
And if there’s a silver lining, it’s that Patch will still be well taken care of when his owner is gone.
He is now looking for a new family, but what we know for sure is that John will always be in his heart.
