‘It meant such a lot’: joy and tears as man sees beloved horse one last time before his death

A man who was spending his final days in a hospice was reunited on his birthday with the beloved pony he had hoped to see one last time.

Staff at the Sue Ryder Manorlands Hospice in Keighley “pulled out all the stops” so Peter could spend time with 15.2hh Dales mare Faith last month. He had moved to the hospice in May having spent some weeks in hospital.

“While Peter was in hospital he was desperate to get home and see his pony one last time but once we realised quite how ill he was, we knew he would be going to the hospice,” Peter’s wife Heather said.

“His sister was adamant that she was going to take Faith to see him and when we mentioned it to the staff they just said ‘That’s no problem’.”

The staff moved Peter into a room with a door to the garden and moved the furniture so he could spend time with eight-year-old Faith, whom he bought as a two-year-old, as well as his close family.

“It was lovely to be able to get together for his birthday at the hospice,” Heather said.

“It was a lovely sunny day so we were all able to be in the garden outside his room. Nothing was too much trouble for the hospice staff. They had swapped his room which meant it was much easier to get to his room from the outside, they moved all the furniture round in his room so that he could have the bed near the door, they even took the blind off the door so it would open a little bit further and he could actually get close to Faith.

“He was in tears to be honest. He fed her carrot after carrot and spoilt her rotten which he always said never to do but it meant such a lot to him.”

Peter died at the hospice a few days later, aged 58.

“Our team are so grateful that they could help Peter and his family share this special time together at the end of his life,” a Sue Ryder spokesperson said.

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