A Vietnam War veteran with just weeks to live got to say a final good bye to his beloved Yorkshire Terrier from his hospital bed.
John Vincent, from New Mexico, had to give up five-year-old Patch when he entered hospice care last week.
Doctors say the 69-year-old doesn’t have much time left – and all he asked was that he could see his puppy once again before he died.
On Thursday that wish came true and he was reunited with Patch at the Raymond G. Murphy VA Medical Center in Albuquerque.
Animal Welfare director Danny Nevarez said Patch was quiet throughout the commute to the hospice, but ‘began to cry’ upon seeing his owner.
‘It’s almost like he knew, he just started whimpering,’ he told the Albuquerque Journal.
Mr Vincent, who has no family in New Mexico, enlisted in the Marines when he was young man and served for three years including in Vietnam, the paper reported.
He got Patch when his neighbour’s dog had puppies and they became best friends.
The veteran said: ‘He was the smallest, and I wanted one that could ride on my bike. The only hair I had was on my chin, which was called a patch. … And he had a little white patch, so we were the patch brothers’.
Animal Welfare shared pictures of their emotional reunion on Facebook on Friday saying: ‘They were so happy to see each other and to say their good byes. It was an honor to make this veterans final wish come true.’
The shelter followed up saying that Patch found a new owner and will be joining his new home soon.
