Meet Bobby and facility therapy dog Brad
Bobby stands in his Navy uniform with facility therapy dog Brad sitting by his side. The two are surrounded by trees.
“I’m a Navy Chief Hospital Corpsman at the Naval Branch Health Clinic Navy Air Field Washington on Joint Base Andrews (formally known as Andrews Air Force Base, or the Presidents Base). I am the Senior Enlisted Leader here running the clinic and managing all 33 personnel, but I am also a medical provider treating active duty military members for things like minor injuries, illnesses, and maintaining their medical readiness. Here at our clinic we see a lot of people for stress and depression issues and concerns that many of our patients are nervous of afraid to discuss.
Brad and I were waiting for a meeting just standing around and talking as we typically do before the meeting begins, when Brad “triggered” on a woman. As she entered the room, Brad tugged at my pant leg then walked over to her and literally laid on her feet. I jokingly said with a smile on my face, “Is there something you need to tell me about?” Her face dropped a bit and she was very quiet. After the meeting she approached me to tell me, only minutes before the meeting, she was called by her doctor and told her mammogram showed positive signs of cancer.”
