Nurses find a home for ‘man’s best friend’ so he can receive life-saving hospital care

District Nurse Viv Corcoran, Jake the dog, Ray Kennedy and District Nurse Shelly Harrison

Kind-hearted health staff found a home for a ‘man’s best friend’ so he could go into hospital for life-saving treatment.

Ray Kennedy from Middleton had cellulitis on his legs causing an infection that could have led to life-threatening blood poisoning.

He urgently needed to be admitted to hospital but refused to leave his best friend, cocker spaniel Jake, without someone to care for him.

District nurses Shelly Harrison and Viv Corcoran, who visited Ray every day to change his wound dressings, went the extra mile to help and found a dog sitter willing to take Jake for free at short nice.

They saw Ray into an ambulance and then drove the pup from Middleton to Stalybridge to his temporary home.

Shelly also visited Ray during his hospital stay to give him updates about Jake and bring him things he needed from home.

The retired solicitor, who also has Parkinson’s Disease, says without the care of the nurses, who work for Pennine Care NHS Foundation Trust, he would have refused to be admitted to hospital and may not have recovered.

He said: “Jake is a lovely dog. He’s very affectionate and he never leaves me alone. I couldn’t have gone into hospital without someone to look after him.

“The nurses are lovely and I’m so grateful to them for what they’ve done.”

Jake had belonged to Ray’s father before he passed away last year and Ray says the dog is very attached to him.

After spending six weeks in hospital and a residential home to recover, Ray is now back home and receiving regular visits from the district nursing team.

Shelly said she and Viv were happy to help find a someone to house Jake.

She said: “We were really concerned about Ray but he was adamant he wouldn’t go to hospital unless someone could look after Jake.

“We drove Jake down to Stalybridge so Ray could go and get the care he needed. They have such a strong relationship and I’m glad he’s now back home with Jake and doing much better.”

Pennine Care’s district nurses in Heywood, Middleton and Rochdale provide nursing care to people in their own homes to help them avoid unnecessary hospital admissions and reduce pressure on other NHS services.