A Texas veteran who was paralyzed during the Vietnam War got his dying wish — to say goodbye to his beloved horses.
Robert Gonzalez, 65, was treated to a visit from his two horses, Sugar and Ringo, Saturday from his hospital bed at Audie L. Murphy Memorial Veterans Hospital in San Antonio.
“He was aware of the horses being there and opened his eyes,” hospital spokesman Lupe Hernandez told The Daily Beast. “The horses were kissing him.”
Gonzalez didn’t give up riding horses despite getting paralyzed during the war, continuing to train and race stallions around Texas.
He was first brought to the hospital back in 1974 as one of its first patients.
And now that he is near death, the staff is doing everything they can to ensure that he is content.
“When we know that they’re at the end of life, we try to make them as comfortable as possible,” Hernandez said.