Therapy Dog Helps Heal Children

ATLANTA -- Children's Healthcare of Atlanta hired a new full-time employee at its Scottish Rite campus. Casper may not have a medical degree, but he can help heal patients.

Parker, 5, can't tell you how much he loves Casper's visits, but his smile can.

"It's really a highlight for a child who is stuck in a bed all day, unable to get up," said Parker's mother, Mary Jane Young.

Parker has a form of epilepsy. Some days are better than others, but Young said almost every day includes a potentially life-threatening seizure.

"It's really been very destructive to him," said Young.

But on the days that Casper visits, that destruction disappears for Parker and his neighbor, 11-year-old Brianna Battle.

Battle has a rare disorder that causes seizures and makes it difficult to breathe. She just had reconstructive surgery on her jaw to keep her breathing in her sleep.

"Brianna was very weak and when Casper came in she just sat up and was loving him," said Brianna's mother Melissa Battle.

Some of the best therapy is when Casper simply jumps on their bed to lie beside them. His handler, Lisa Kinsel, said he's been able to sense which patients can safely handle an up-close cuddle.

"I have seen him hesitate to get in bed with a child, knowing that that child might be in more pain," said Kinsel.

Trent Markwith didn't have to worry about that and said Casper can make a cold, machine-filled hospital room feel like home.

"Because I have a dog at my house and I haven't been able to see him in a long time," said Markwith. "It's nice to see a dog again."

While Young said Casper can bring her son one step closer to actually going home.

"It really touches my heart," said Young. "It makes me know that he's still in there, and it makes it OK."

The video for this story can be found here.

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