Family, friends bring horse to hospital to visit dying owner
OAK VALE, W.V. — Steven Ford’s time on earth was ending, so he wanted to come home. When his family and friends were told this wasn’t possible, they brought home to him by bringing him somebody he had loved and cared for.
Ford turned 39 on Wednesday. He had been battling cancer for some time at Carillon Roanoke Memorial Hospital, in Virginia. His family and friends were ready to decorate his room for his birthday, but he knew what he really wanted.
“He wanted to come home,” his friend Amy Rose said, working to control her grief. “I don’t mean to cry … it was his birthday. This Wednesday was his birthday and he had gotten progressively worse. He wanted to come home.”
But Steven was on life support, and the hospital’s personnel said he could not be transported back to his home, about 85 miles away.
“That’s why we couldn’t get him home. He wanted to come home, but they had us in a room, in a meeting, and they said it was impossible,” Rose said. A decision was made. “The only way I could do it was to take home to him, and we asked if there was any way they could take him outside and see Boogie.”
Boogie is a rowdy-bred horse Steven Ford, who used to break and train horses, had owned for several years. After half an hour of discussion, the hospital representatives came back and said a visit outside would be possible.
“So I called my son (Dustin Rose) and one of my friends, Brian Finely, and asked if they could please get my truck and hook it to a trailer and get Boogie, and come there immediately,” Amy Rose recalled. “And I went and told Steven. I asked him if you want to see Boogie. Boogie is coming to see you. And he shook his head yes and was just crying and squeezing my hand the whole time. He wanted me to bring him home and I just couldn’t, so I just took Boogie to him.”
The hospital’s staff made the necessary arrangements to help reunite the friends.
“They made the life support machine portable and they had several battery packs,” Amy Rose said. “We held his hand the whole way.”
Rose’s daughter Destiny took the decorations and balloons acquired for Steven’s birthday and placed them around Boogie’s neck. Boogie recognized Steven immediately; they had not seen each other for two weeks.
“He loved every minute of it, every minute of it,” Amy Rose said of her friend’s reaction. “(Boogie) just fell right into Steven’s hands. He just stood there and let Steven pet him.” Horse and owner visited each other for about 30 minutes before it was time to part.
Steven Ford passed away Thursday, the day after his visit with Boogie. Amy Rose said he left the horse to her.
“You never saw him when he wasn’t smiling,” she said of her friend. “You’d never meet a better person in the world.”
Jordan is a reporter at The Bluefield (West Virginia) Daily Telegraph.