The Good Samaritan

Oftentimes, the daily experiences that stand out to us as veterinarians are the crazy, weird, silly, oh-my-goodness-did-that-just-happen moments. However, sometimes, we are struck by the wow-that-really-touched-my-heart moments. I will always remember one of those experiences I had as an ER vet...

I was working the ER on a crazy-busy day. Our ER clinic had just opened a new location, and we typically weren't overly busy - not a lot of people knew about the new place yet, and we were still "working the kinks out" of the new building. So, as usual, I was the only vet on duty. So far, the arrangement had worked well - however, this day was an exception. We were slammed all day long - a 2-3 hour wait - and amazingly enough, our clients were quite understanding. That in-and-of-itself was unusual. Its common-place in the animal ER to have clients yelling at screaming at us because they're stressed, worried, tired, etc. On this shift, my staff and I were tired and stressed, but everyone was holding up well.

We had a client with a dog that needed to be admitted to the hospital. What for, I don't recall - and it doesn't really matter. What matters is that the young woman who owned the dog didn't have enough money to provide the care he needed that day. Financial concerns are a huge part of every veterinary office, but especially animal ERs. In this case, Miss Concerned was trying to call family, friends, etc to come up with money for treatment.

Now, our waiting room was busy. But not too busy for one of the other clients to take notice of the young woman with financial concerns. When Mrs. Goodheart was checking out, she let my receptionist know that she wanted to pay for Miss Concerned's entire bill. Whatever the total, she wanted to take care of it. No strings attached, except she wanted to remain anonymous.

These are the things you hear about in storybooks. Chicken-Soup-for-the-Soul type stuff.... In the middle of our chaotic day, every one of us on staff took a moment to wipe tears from our eyes. Tears of joy and amazement as we watched Miss Concerned become Miss Not-a-Care-in-the-World.