Vietnam veteran Joe Tasby, who is blind, was confessed to a Nevada hospital in March, however fortunately was still able to have his yellow Labrador Retriever guide dog, Cupid, by his side.
When Tasby arrived at HCA Healthcare’s Southern Hills Hospital in Las Vegas, he just expected to be there for a few days.
However his lung disease and heart arrhythmia maintained him in for longer. Initially, Tasby’s daughter Tiffini visited him usually to keep him company and to feed and walk Cupid, but once the hospital entered into lockdown due to the coronavirus pandemic, everything transformed.
Tasby was no more able to have visitors, so his child was unable to come and look after Cupid. Tasby worried how he would look after his furry friend throughout the remainder of their hospital stay.
That’s when a nurse named Barbara Borbeck stepped up to look after both Tasby and Cupid.
For the following 3 weeks, Borbeck, who is the hospital’s medical-surgical and telemetry director, assisted immensely with Cupid and placed Tasby’s worries at ease.
Every early morning, she would certainly take him for a walk around the hospital as she did her rounds, brought him outside for fresh air and workout, and always made sure he had enough food and treats.
Cupid liked Borbeck and waited at the door for her each morning, greeting her with a big smile and wagging tail.
” He truly took to her,” Borbeck told CBS Information. “Sometimes I would see him jumping up and down, and so excited and pleased to see her. He can usually inform if people have good spirit and no doubt, Barbara has a fantastic spirit.”
However Borbeck’s treatment went far beyond the hospital. She went to 9 different stores in the location just to locate Cupid’s special food when he went out. She ended up driving 40 minutes to a store prior to her shift in order to get the food from a store that had it in stock.
While Borbeck helped look after Cupid, Cupid likewise helped hospital team feel much better during this really difficult time. As Borbeck brought Cupid with her during her rounds, they visited various departments so they could love on him.
After almost 3 weeks at the hospital, Tasby finally got the “ok” to discharge from the hospital. Borbeck strolled him and Cupid to their car and claimed their goodbyes.
” I left there believing, ‘I need to find some type of method to show this lady how much I appreciate what she’s done for us via a hard time,’” Tasby told CBS News. “It’s fortunate when you meet someone who is in the right place, at the right time, doing the best point. And that is Barbara.”