A terminally ill Vietnam veteran, who doctors say has only days to live, was granted his last wish by a stranger who was able to reunite him with his beloved lost dog.
John Simpson, the veteran, was shifted to hospice and could not bring his pet, Mr. Cutie.
Last Sunday, Mr. Cutie escaped his new owner's home by digging a hole under a backyard fence. It was one day after he visited Simpson in the hospice.
"Saturday was the first time I took the dog here to hospice. The next day, he got out," Ann Marie Gemmel, the neighbour who has been checking on the dog, was quoted as saying by MyFoxTampaBay.Com.
"I really think he was looking for John," she said.
Simpson was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2012. He described Mr. Cutie as his "spark of life," and said the dog is what he was living for.
"When you're growing up you're asked, 'If you could have one wish, what would you wish for?' Back in those days, I used to say, 'As many wishes as I could wish for.' Now my only wish would be for my dog to come home,'" he said.
His wish was granted on Friday when Missy Figueroa connected Mr. Cutie with Simpson by posting pictures of the dog she had found on FidoFinder.
The dog had been found running around the area near where he escaped with a red collar but had no identification tags.
Simpson said that he had been praying to St. Jude everyday for the return of his dog.
"I'm about to cry," he said during the reunion.
