LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. (WSVN) — It’s no secret that animals are known to lift the spirits of patients. While some facilities will allow small animals a brief visit, one Florida hospital went above and beyond to make sure a woman got to see her beloved pet: her horse.
Christine Carbonneau, 68, is a patient at Florida Hospital Connerton, and is at the long term acute care facility to recover from surgery after she suffered respiratory failure, Fox 13 reports.
Just days before being rushed to the hospital, Carbonneau became engaged to her longtime partner Gary Stevens. But since going in the hospital, Carbonneau hadn’t seen her horse Ireland in two months, and Stevens said his fiancée was feeling a bit down.
Stevens suggested to the staff that Carbonneau would benefit from a visit with her horse, so hospital staff worked to surprise their patient.
The hospital said they were able to get Carbonneau off of her ventilator long enough to go outside for a brief reunion with her beloved horse.
“It was a touching moment and it is safe to say there was not a dry eye,” hospital spokesperson Richelle Hoenes-Ahearn said.
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