Audrie Spake’s father João is seriously ill, and in recent months doctors have been fighting for his life. After months of being in a hospital bed, his mental state also began to deteriorate. He was often depressed, and his family, together with the doctors, came up with the idea of giving Mr João a surprise. They knew that he would feel much better after this encounter. The doctors considered the encounter of the seriously ill patient Spaka João with the therapy horse very important, because it will certainly give him strength for the further struggle ahead.
Paço is a therapy horse of an organisation that has made it its mission to promote the recovery of sick patients with the help of animals. This organisation is called “Coletivo Inclusão” and has already achieved many positive results in its first years of operation.
We know how positively animals affect us, so this kind of “visit” should be more frequent in all hospitals in the world.
Spake posted a video on her profile showing this touching encounter. At that moment, it was very touching for him. The horse literally felt how sad this man was, so he approached him and gently put his head against his chest. In this way, Paço gave him support and comfort.
Spaka will certainly never forget this visit, and afterwards the doctors noticed considerable progress in his treatment and his mental condition was much better. This shows us that this kind of animal-assisted therapy is not alien and should not be rejected. The patients can only benefit from it.
In some clinics this therapy method is recognised, but in many it is not yet. Hopefully, this will change very soon.
“Animal-assisted therapy can significantly reduce pain, anxiety, depression and fatigue in people with a range of health problems,” reports the Mayo Clinic. “And it’s not just people with health problems who benefit. Family members and friends who visit the animals also say they feel better.”