The exact moment a poodle desperately searches his home for his owner who is in hospital has broken hearts on TikTok.
Steph Kelly, 28, has a lifelong heart condition that affects the rhythm of her heart and has intestinal failure along with gastroparesis. These chronic illnesses mean Kelly is no stranger to hospitals, but recently a planned week-long stay has turned into many more.
The nurse told Newsweek she has been in hospital since August 23, and her dog Oatley, is unable to visit.
Steph Kelly/TikTok/@stephkkelly
On October 8, Kelly share a video on TikTok that shows her husband resting his head on her bed while holding her hand. The onscreen text reads: “My husband spent the night visiting me at the hospital and when he got home, he sent this..”
The next few clips show their dog frantically looking for her around their home in Sydney, Australia.
Kelly said: “I have been in hospital for five weeks, but I have had one week at home in between.
“When the video went up, it had been two weeks since I had last seen Oatley,” the nurse added.
So far, the video has more than 1.1 million views and over 167,500 likes. Many users have even been reduced to tears, with one comment reading: “Stop Steph I'm crying. This is both so adorable but so heartbreaking.”
“He was so ready to see you Steph he thought you were hiding. I'm broken just watching your dog,” wrote another user.
Another person posted: “This has me crying. The reunion will be beautiful.”
Kelly, who uses the handle @stephkkelly, uses her platform to raise awareness of her illnesses and document her time in hospital.
Unfortunately, pets aren't allowed, but Steph has been able to see her pet briefly outside for 10 minutes.
There is a high chance Oatley is aware that his owner is sick when he does see her because dogs are much smarter than we may think. The American Kennel Club has confirmed canines can sniff out illnesses, and some are specifically trained to alert their diabetic owners when their blood-glucose levels are off.
Dogs can also detect cancer by sniffing samples of a patient's tissue or their breath or urine.
Kelly has a heart-rhythm problem where her organ's upper chambers beat irregularly, as well as supraventricular tachycardia (SVT). This is a fast heart rate that begins in your atria due to abnormal electrical connections there.
Speaking about her current stay in hospital, Kelly shared a video with her 310,300 followers. She said that she was supposed to undergo a medication change but contracted an infection that led to a serious condition called sepsis. After three weeks, the young woman was discharged but sadly rushed back into hospital on September 24.
In another video, she says that she was put under anesthetic and shocked with a defibrillator.
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Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
