Hospice Grants 79-Year-Old Woman’s Dying Wish To See Her Horse One Last Time

A Connecticut hospice patient who had wished to spend her final days with her horse Bella was granted her wish.

WFSB

According to Connecticut news source WFSB, Karina Courtmanche, 79, wanted to visit the horse she's had for 30 years since the animal was a baby.

"We were talking with her and she kept talking about her horse Bella and that she wanted to see Bella," Michelle Walker, RN Case Manager for Connecticut Hospice, told the publication.

Courtmanche doesn't have much longer, but that didn't stop Connecticut Hospice from arranging a visit with her New Haven nursing facility, Mary Wade Facility.

In just a few days, the teams were able to bring Courtmanche to the brown-eyed horse, which is now being cared for at Bittersweet Farm in Bethany, Connecticut.

WFSB

“I’m very excited that I’m able to give her this last wish,” Walker told the outlet. “It’s important to her, so it’s important to us.”

Courtmanche was able to spend time with Bella, pet her, and feed her some carrots during the visit.

It's obvious that the two enjoy a wonderful, loving relationship.

WFSB

“Isn’t it nice to be able to see your horse again?” Walker asked Courtmanche during the visit.

“Yeah,” she replied.

An ambulance and a stretcher were used by medical staff to take her to the farm.

Courtmanche is a "lovely lady" who loves dressing up, according to Walker.

“Her condition has declined where her body is just failing her,” Walker told WFSB. 

WFSB

“She’s a lovely lady, she loves to be dressed up to the nines, she loves having the jewelry on, makeup done.”

The Mary Wade Home and Connecticut Hospice were contacted by The Post for comments.

According to the publication, Bella will reside at Bittersweet Farm until Courtmanche dies.

Others have in the past relied on animals to get them through tough times.

Amee Tomkin, 33, had her Staffordshire bull terrier Belle, who was 2 years old, accompany her to appointments starting in April.

When she gave birth to her kid, the dog even waited for her in the hospital.

Additionally, two ladies in the UK—Emma Redman, 37, and Pippa Ashton, 46—started a group for emotional support last year that uses a flock of seven sheep to console those in need.

“We offer a safe space, if they want to talk to us then they can but maybe they just want to play and giggle and laugh and run around with the sheep,” Emma Redman explained to SWNS.