Jun 20, 2011
A dying man’s last wish: To see his dog
From KCRG…
Yurt used to live with a homeless Cedar Rapids man, 57-year-old Kevin McClain, in his car. But a month ago he became ill with lung cancer.
Paramedics rushed him to Mercy Medical Center and later to Hospice House. Yurt went to the animal shelter.
“In the transition of moving him over from our ambulance cot to the bed, he told me, ‘I have a dog,’” said Area Ambulance Service Paramedic Specialist Jan Erceg.…
From the day Yurt and Kevin were separated, he asked to see her.…
(via Bag of Nothing)
* * * * *
This is the saddest and most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
Like.
:) it is indeed <3
it truly is. and the sweetest.
my dog just past from me after 16 years of being my absolute best and most loved friend on this planet,surely life can never be the same without him i’m actualy worse-off now than when my earthly father past.,my baby boy past from me august 15,-11 days after his birthday&6 days after mine i just thought that same thing very nearly to the letter, about those pix,thank you for being out there& for the beutiful words about that man and his dog., i wish the best for both and every possible moment of time together, i know every second is cherished by both.,and thank you for reading this,anyone who does,and great luck and health&longt life to you&your pets!,sincerley,smengman.
i’ve never done much usefull on the web so i’m not to exp., have never once chatted i don’t evan text, if someone sends me 1 my answ. is always the same{you have a phone in your hand,call me.},i wouldn’t know a page or a site from facebook or twitter if i were looking at one,point is,i just wanted it known that in my reply i was refering to the coment from jess, didn’t realize that a reply to a coment would list as just another coment,so thanx again.
i hope you realize you gave me a new outlook on people. lately ive been wondering if people can be as attached to a dog as i was. between the ages of 5-21 my dog was in my life. i loved him so much. had like 100 nicknames for him, I took him to the dog park every day once i turned 16. one time when i was crying my dog started crying back at me. he jumped up on the couch then took his nose and put it under my chin then popped it upwards and started licking me. My point is that i was very attached to him and once he past i felt like a part of me was gone. i know ill move on and such but i dont think i could ever own another dog because i was so in love with mine. idk there might be people like me out there but who knows.
Yes there are others like you. I live among people who are very cruel to animals. My little dog, I had for 7 years until he was murdered. He was hit on the head, I’m sure that’s how it happened. They snuck upon him and killed him, then threw his little body on the side of myhouse. It’s cruel to think of him being treated this way. GOD will repay them. He was small and mean, but he was loyal to me and I willmiss him for all time. The look on that dog’s face is one of absolute love and peace.
In tears now.
me, too. :(
Yes. It is lovely and heartbreaking.
I’m so glad the hospital (or Hospice) let his dog come into the room with him. I hope someone adopted that dog if the man didn’t survive.
Well he most likely didnt :’( because a hospice isnt a hospital its a place for terminally ill people that wont ever leave the place.
please tell me what happened to the dog!!!!!
http://abcnews.go.com/US/reunited-dog-dying-mans/story?id=13869667
Jess said it well!
“Oh my heart.”
My cousin and his wife adopted Yurtie. They didn’t know her full story until after they got her. KCRG’s website has a video link that includes their part.
Brittany, On behalf of those of us in the world who have dedicated our lives to rescue, please thank your cousin and his wife for me. It’s a beautiful thing. God bless.
Beautiful story. My heart goes out to the people who adopted the dog and the hospice for letting the man visit his dog one more time.
Thanks Brittany for the wonderful news about Yurtie’s adoption…………
Thanks Brittany for letting us know Yurtie was adopted by a great couple. What love is in those pictures … R.I.P. Kevin, God Bless You
Thank you for granting Kevin his last wish!
That literally made me cry just by looking at the second picture.
Me too, Annie. I’m a mess right now. It’s so touching and so sad, but I’m still glad to see that Kevin was able to see the dog for one last time.
This brought a tear to my eye and reminded me of when my husband was in the hospice center. They allowed us to have our dog there and it made all the difference in the world. God bless Hospice and the Angels that volunteer there.
A truly BEAUTIFUL picture and story. I hope I leave this world with so much love around me.
Sad but beautiful. Give the man some love.
I’m sure this poor man died in peace with his loving next to him. There are a lot of angels in this world!
* dog
I can’t people want to know what happened to the dog. The fact that the only nice room a homeless person gets to see is the room where their deathbed awaits is kind of getting to me. But of course all of you will think, “Oh god, here comes the whole social justice rant, yada yada yada…”.
The image is striking and the story is beautiful, but in the end you have to look at yourself and see that you’ll press the “like” button, forget about the issue of homelessness and keep on with your lives thinking you couldn’t have done anything about it. All you care about is the dog, what’s wrong with that?!!!
I thought the same thing when I first saw the pictures. It occurred to me that this was probably the nicest bed that man had lay in for quite a few years and he most likely only got to experience it for a short time depending on how advanced his cancer was. The love between he and his dog was a beautiful thing, and obviously there is a part of me that wants to make sure his dog has a life after her owner’s death, but at the end of the day one has to make note that a man died only a short time after experiencing shelter.
So just because people didn’t mention the man, we aren’t allowed to wonder what happened to the dog? Homelessness is heartbreaking. All we can do is try to help – but this man passed away and it’s not a horrible thing to wonder if the dog survived (and fortunately, he did, and was adopted).
That’s the neat thing about humans – we have the ability to care about more than one thing at a time.
Besides which – the man was allowed to die in a hospice center instead of on the street. That takes a bit of compassion in itself.
Homelessness sucks. Cancer sucks. This story is beautiful. Both man and dog could have died alone and forgotten on the streets. Compassion for one doesn’t preclude compassion for the other.
Well said MU. He passed cared for and so eventually will Yurtie. A small victory for humanity but a victory all the same………
I look for moments like this as hope for all of us. Sometimes it seems few and far between, but when I find them, I’m greatly encouraged.
Sounds like you are reading too much in to the issue. Who are you to judge and say that nobody else here has any deeper thoughts than you? But when it comes down to it the story is about a man and his dog and that’s what people are commenting on. It’s not meant to be a place for people to rant about social inequalities and so forth. It’s just meant to be a nice story and then you start complaining about how people aren’t commenting on the right subjects. Yeah, very touching tribute to his memory.
the picture is one of LOVE, pure and simple. the UNCONDITIONAL LOVE between a MAN and his DOG. I see a gentle kiss to his owner and a beautiful smile one this amazing dogs face as he lays with his best friend in the world. i hope i get to be this lucky. xoxo
well said Teresa.. the picture says it all..
Oh my god! I’m from Cedar Rapids! We never heard about any of this on the local news! Beautiful story but I’m appalled that the local news didn’t cover this story!
Obviously it *was* covered by local news, since KCRG is a Cedar Rapids news source. I found it on the website. It looks like it aired on June 16.
I will never forget this loving picture….thank you….
This is really very moving – perhaps the most touchy I ever come across.
This is so beautiful, but also heartbreaking. It makes me cry and realize that the world needs animals. <3
This is a beautiful example of unconditional love. The dog never judged the homeless man, never questioned what can he give me; or why didn’t he achieve more in life. I work as an RN and I see many people die, One of the saddest things I see is someone dying alone. Many people even those with family lie in a bed at a hospital, hospice or wherever they happen to fall. Time after time I see them dying alone. It takes no special training just a heart of compassion, go to your hospital offer to set a few hours, over night. give whatever you can give. Talk to the dying, read to them, pray with them, just sit with them. You can talk, or hold their hand. Just let them know someone is there with them. NO ONE deserves to die alone.
I feel afraid to do that because I think the hospice or hospital will view me with suspicion. However, I look at that “feeling” and see that the fear isn’t important. It’s what I could do. There are 3 very large hospitals in Northern Virginia. I’ll call the one closest to me tomorrow. Love the dawgie and feel for the man.
man…I’m reading this stoned right now…I’m pretty friggin sad for this guy, this totally messed with my vibe
I was saddened by this to begin with then I thought… How beautiful our dogs -are- family members and they offer us unconditional love who wouldn’t want to be with their precious dogs at the time of their passing… Such love.
I have Just one thing to say “Way to go” Cedar Rapids Hospice House for letting his dog stay with him. Hospice is the most wonderful place. They have taken care of my, Father, Mother and Uncle in their time of need. I have one last thing to say, my wife works for Hospice & Palliative Care Hendersonville NC.
mans best friend i’m sure that dog will always be waiting for him! the sad thing is he was probably a good guy that didn’t deserve to be homeless and our government could give a hoot. maybe they will reunite on the other side :)
put tears to my eyes
I don’t think the picture was artfully taken to represent a homeless man or his dog. I think the picture represents true love and friendship. The man knowing that he is facing his maker, is consoling himself with his true best friend AND the dog is truly consoling HIS best friend. He know this gentleman is sick, very. Dogs can sense this. I thick this picture dispays, love, kindness, and companionship at its best!!!
We all need to appreciate life and what we each have. It may not be much, but for those like this homeless gentleman and his dog-its everything.
What did you do today to show appreciation for life and those you love and care about? Time in life is limited for us all.
i started crying when i saw the second picture.
Me too :(
There’s no more faithfull love than an animal….I know from cats or dogs who die when their oweners die too
This is so sad….i started crying……this broke my soar little heart
The second picture is just so captivating…
You’d have to be a heartless bastard not to be touched by this. A truly beautiful example of unconditional love.
Did he died?
dude. not cool
This made me tear up. I know if I were dying I’d want my dog with me. I mean, what is having a dog in my room really going to do that’s any worse than DYING?
I would want my dogs with me also. What a wonderful little girl she was for this man. I hope they see each other again.
I love animals, absolutely love them. But reading a lot of these comments about the dog getting adopted (which I truly hope she did) makes me really sad for this man. We should do everything we can to help animals in our society…but when the well being of a dog comes before even a single thought of a man dying a long painful death, after a life of homelessness, it kind of makes me think. We think our days are stressful… I know I personally can not begin to understand the struggle a man or woman in this position would have every single day.
But you are all right, its not an animal that this story is about. Its the relationship as real as any human to human soul mate. Today I am thankful for the fact I drive my car to work, and not have to sleep it in, no matter if its alone or with a best friend.
…. damn it i teared up
He has a gold watch hes not homless
My dog has been so much a part of my family that I don’t think but I know we would all risk our lives to save her if need be, this touched me so much because I know just how much you can love your pets. My dog just had surgery and is very old so we don’t know how long she has to live and I was thinking of losing her while reading this and I teared up, and I almost never cry about anything. Please people treat your animals with respect and care, they are living creatures and they deserve to be loved and cared for just like you do. Nothing makes me more sad than seeing abused animals and this story is very beautiful and I hope we can all learn from it.
Seeing this definitely brought tears to my eyes. Sad but sweet.
so sad, brought me to tears.
Really teary at this. Well done to Brittany for adopting that lovely dog and great of the hospital to allow it in!
We just lost our beautiful loving mastiff and I know how some of you feel. The pain I feel is horrible. I’ll miss her for the rest of my life.
Wow, I’m no softie…but this really hits me. Especially the last picture.
there should be an Animals in need aswell as children in need theres not alot of things going on about animals needs it all seems to be people charities and people in need.
He’s a skeleton. This just shouldn’t be.
There is nothing greater than love
oh this is so totally sad!!! Make the tears roll!!! true friends forever for sure!!!
How very sad and to think that he might have had a family somewhere and they don’t even know where he has been all this time. Now, its too late. Love the picture of the one and only friend he had. Beautiful dog. I hope somebody adopts her.
Awwww…what happened to the dog after the man passed?
I have 2 long time friends I worry what will happen to them if something happens to me
watched the story on abc and wow. dogs will love to the ends of the earth
Anyone else notice how thin his arms are?
I miss my Rex, 1998-2011. I’ll always love you big buddy.
wow
A beautiful sad story, I hope the dog already adopted & find another person who loves her.
the love of an animal is like no other..doesn’t judge..complain..talk back they only want to be loved and accepted…I could not think of my life without all my creatures I have…and I wouldn’t trade any of then for the world….:)
Thank goodness someone finally paid attention and got his dog in to see him. Blessings on all involved!!