When you’re hospitalized, the world can feel like quite a scary place. Not being able to see friends and family all day can make you feel quite alone, so wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was a way for sick patients to feel less lonely during their time spent at the hospital?
Well, one girl and her mom decided to make all of this possible, and their story is truly heartwarming.
Mackenzie Makatche and her mother, Diedre, were the proud owners of not one, not two, but nine adorable Newfoundland dogs. The sweet pooches bought such happiness to everybody who met them that it inspired Mackenzie and her mom to do something truly wonderful.
One day the pair were brainstorming and came up with the idea of using their pooches as a way to cheer up those who were in hospital, kind of like a therapy dog. Around that time, Diedre became sick. Speaking to the Philadelphia Enquirer, Mackenzie said:
““She (Diedre) really wanted to start a therapy organization to visit people in the hospital. Little did she know that she was going to be one of those people.”
Diedre was diagnosed with stage four colon cancer in the fall of 2016, and she bravely battled her illness with her dogs by her side. They provided a constant form of comfort and support to her until her very last moments. On April 10, 2018, Mackenzie held her mom’s hand as she told her, “’Kenz, I’m ready.’” She slipped away surrounded by love.
Mackenzie had created an Instagram account documenting her mom’s heroic fight against her illness. The account grew in followers as people said their prayers for Diedre, and after she passed the numbers still climbed.
On the account, which has now climbed to over 57 thousand followers, Mackenzie decided to fulfill her mom’s dream of creating a nonprofit Newfoundland therapy group, and introduced the Newf Crew to her delighted fans. The crew consists of Guinness, Murphy, Storm, Skyy, Aisling, Oliver, Belle, Duncan, and Coeli, half of whom have now been trained as therapy dogs.
“If it weren’t for the dogs, there would be so many days that I would’ve stayed in bed after my mom died,” Mackenzie said. “They gave me so many smiles when I needed to smile.”
Mackenzie won’t be keeping these cute pups forever! She breeds them to go to their furever homes, but she’s very selective about who each dog goes to, saying:
“I won’t promise a puppy to anyone who hasn’t met me and all of the dogs.”
Aside from training her pooches to be therapy dogs, Mackenzie also makes sure that she keeps her mom’s spirit alive by doing one thing — dog holiday photos. She told the Philadelphia Inquirer:
“My mom really liked the holiday pictures so I’ve been putting more effort into them since she passed away. They’re probably embarrassed by me, but they do it just to humor me.”
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