LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Norton Children's Hospital has added a critical — but furry — team member: Yarie is a service dog who helps children fight for their lives.
Just like the doctors, Yarie and Selph make rounds and see some of the hospital's sickest patients.
"We typically see about, anywhere from three to five patients a day," Selph said.
Despite how sick some of the patients are, Yarie almost always seems to change the mood, Selph said.
"The next thing you know, she's up in the bed with them and they're giggling and laughing and playing with her," she said.
In December, Selph and Yarie were added to the hospital's "Just for Kids" Critical Care Center, which takes care of the most critically ill children.
Erik Martin, the hospital's chief nursing officer, said Yarie and Selph are crucial because they visit children and families who may need a little more than medicine to feel better.
"They come in and can range from traumas we see in the emergency department, patients with cancer to heart transplants," he said.
Yarie is funded by Bourbon & Bowties, an annual fundraiser for Norton Children's Hospital Foundation. The event has raised more than $2 million since it started.
"The investment that our donors make allow us to find creative ways to care for patients and families outside of the normal ways that we do," Martin said.
Selph says Yarie provides a sense of normalcy for the entire family.
"I always say, 'We see the parents just as much as we see the patients.'"
Norton Children's Hospital plans to add another service dog this year.
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