The doctor Diego Fernández Sassohead of pediatric hospitalization of the IADT, lives it in its own flesh. The creation of “Program 4 legs”a project that allows internships to receive the visit of their dogs, under strict protocols, was promoted not only from science, but from an intimate experience of the heart.
“A few years ago I didn’t want to have any animal at my house. My children insisted, insisted, insisted. I finally agreed, and Mila’s presence changed family dynamics a bit,” remember. “It’s called Mila by Milagro, because it was a miracle that came to my house”.
That radical change in his life, showed him something we intuit in our day to day but sometimes we forget: live with a dog transforms. And if you can transform everyday life, why couldn’t I do it in a hospital room?
“In Pediatrics we have the concept that hospitalization is the child and family. And if today families are multispecies families, why not allow the family member to come to visit the internship patient?“The doctor questions. Because when it comes to healing, the presence of who loves us, regardless of her species, can be the best remedy.
IMG_4679 (1) .jpg
The rules of the program are clear and necessary: the dog must be living together, be vaccinated, clean and go through a controlled admission procedure. “It’s not that any animal can come,” he emphasizes. “It has to be one more member of the family”. And that, for many people, is exactly what they are: one more son, a brother, a guardian.
For Fernández Sasso, statistics are not needed to validate what is seen with one’s eyes. “Entering the room of a hospitalized patient and seeing his puppy sleeping in his foot is very rewarding”he states. “Nothing ever went wrong, we had no problem in pediatrics or adults”.
The effects are not only seen in patients. They also transform the medical team. Coldness is disarmed, gestures soften, a smile appears. “From the direction down, the entire sanatorium aligned for this to happen,” he says. “There are many people who still have a slightly harder look and they were pleasantly surprised.”.
What seemed unthinkable begins to become customary. A beautiful custom. Fernández Sasso tells: “It is changing everywhere. In some countries, coexistence is much more daily: they go up to airplanes, means of transport, restaurants, places of purchase. I insist, we have to have certain standards, but when you understand that, everything works very well”.
The reunion with a friend
In the Sanatorio CMIC, the story of Myriam Konof 93 yearsIt is a testimony that really reaches the heart. Myriam was about to be operated on a hip fracture when something unexpected happened, something that would change not only its mood, but also the emotional direction of those difficult days.
Your daughter, Claudia GallegoI knew that someone was missing in the clinic. He was not a doctor, or a medicine. Was Ramallothe dog that is part of his life and is in charge of never missing love at home.
WhatsApp Image 2025-05-01 at 14.38.17 (1) .jpg
Claudia I was clear From the beginning: “She lives with me and my dog, because for us He is a family member”. He rescued him when he had barely four months. “I found it in Ramallo (Province of Buenos Aires). And that’s why the name. ”At first he lived alone with him, but when his mother began to have health problems, they moved with her. Since then, The three shared everything: The roof, night walks, naps.
The hospitalization was a blow, but fate played in favor. “On Monday afternoon in the change of guard, one of the afternoon nurses tells me: ‘Who your mother lives with?'” Claudia recalls. “When I told him about the dog, he tells me: ‘You know that you can bring the dog here, right?'” It was like listening to something unreal. “I can’t believe you, who to talk to?” Because if there was a minimal possibility, She was not going to let her pass.
Befunky-Collage (10) .jpg
The attending physician He authorized the visit. The only possible day was Tuesday, before surgery, so Claudia organized everything immediately to be able to realize the meeting. “They told me I had to have A little bagor a pullover, or a shirt, so that it does not leave so much hair. ”He prepared everything. Vaccines, protocol, access by the entry of inputs, forklifts, controls. Until finally, Ramallo arrived.
“They climbed me in a forklift, left me in the room and told me: ‘When I want to leave, he let me know.’ The dog could be up to 3 hours. He was like 2 and a half hours. It was a precious experience. ”
Myriam, remembers the moment of the encounter: “I don’t tell you how my soul turned to the body When I could caress Ramallowho has a very special link with me. “And he adds:” It is a wonderful experience. When people learned, the staff came to see him, he loved himself and touched his heart. ”
That love is not accidental. Myriam not only loves animals: Understand them. After retirement as a social worker, he carried out a course that addressed the visit of dogs for therapeutic purposes, both in hospitals as in him Judicial scope.
WhatsApp Image 2025-05-01 at 14.38.19 (2) (1) (1) .jpg
To close that formation, in 2013 he presented a final work on how the presence of a dog in tense situations can have positive effects. “Modify the environment. There are things that can be measured and that are really beneficial,” explains Myriam.
What at the time seemed an innovative idea, over the years he left materializing. A few years ago, the instructor who helped Myriam with the proposal managed to make this initiative taken into account in judicial fields. “I sent him a whatsapp telling him that, it is coincidence, that is, he remembered that old initiative of mine, I was glad in my soul that he could get some advance.
Indeed, over time it was achieved that the Trained dog entrytogether with your caregiver, to Accompany boys or adolescents during interviews. “It is not the same to talk about a traumatic experience in the air that strokes a dog that states pleasure because it caresses it,” explains Myriam. This initiative was gaining acceptance and became a reality.
WhatsApp Image 2025-05-01 at 14.38.18 (1) (1) .jpeg
When it was time to be hospitalized, Myriam didn’t know he could receive Ramallo. But today he lives it as an emotional and personal victory. “I tell you that It is a wonderful experience“, He says.” It would be fantastic for everyone who feels that and has to go through a moment like that can have the dog’s visit, “Myriam encourages those who have the privilege of being able to do so.
Love does not need permission
What happens in these clinics is not a simple kind gesture. It is an affective revolution, a way of telling the world that health also goes through the heart. That there are medications that relieve the body, but only love (that love that moves the tail when you see you) can cure the soul.
“It was a precious experience, it would be fantastic that everyone who feels that and has to go through a moment can have the dog’s visit.”Myriam wishes, with the serenity of who lived what seemed impossible.
IMG_4680.jpg
And Fernández Sasso invites other institutions to join this initiative: “Who wants to experience the fact that the multispecie family will continue to be linked in an institution, will see that it is simple, realizable, that has no cons and have no problems”.
In a world where everything is measured, controlled and justified with figures, there are things that simply They feel. Like the relief that runs through your chest when a wet nose brushes your hand. Like the tear that becomes a smile. As the force that returns, unexpectedly, in the form of a tail that is agitated. And that is also health. And that, definitely, is also love.
Source: Ambito
I am an author and journalist who has worked in the entertainment industry for over a decade. I currently work as a news editor at a major news website, and my focus is on covering the latest trends in entertainment. I also write occasional pieces for other outlets, and have authored two books about the entertainment industry.
