A superstar and his handler

Though their visits are often to give joy to folks undergoing cancer treatment and other medical aid, the duo’s visits now give Quigley herself joy as she goes through her own cancer treatment with Bernie by her side.

Quigley moved to Rocky Point in 2018 with her beloved greyhound, who died shortly thereafter. Soon, she decided to foster a two-year-old greyhound named Bernie.

She said she wanted to keep Bernie about an hour after she started fostering him because of his unique appearance and personality.

Almost five years later, Quigley said Bernie has become a seven-year-old superstar to local Novant Health staff and patients after completing the Canine Good Citizen and Canine Good Citizen Advanced training required to become a therapy dog.

“He was kind of made for therapy dog work,” Quigley said.

They travel from Rocky Point two times a week to the hospitals to volunteer in the lobby, patient rooms and waiting rooms. Quigley may have been new to the North Carolina area but she is no stranger to the hospital environment.

Quigley was an echocardiographer in New York for 35 years. She said she loves being in a hospital environment and working in a hospital because of the community, family and home it provides.

She had always seen therapy dogs at work and, she noted, even got her former pup therapy dog certified. “I had seen therapy dogs come through and you could see how much joy it would give, even to the staff… They need it just as much as the patients,” she said.

Bernie’s mere presence has a calming effect on folks, his handler said. He calms and brightens folks’ days in a matter of minutes — even if the person is unsure about participating in pet therapy, she explained.

“Their smile and their face just light up… it just brings so much joy to these patients that may be sitting there all day alone not having any visitors,” she said.

Bernie and Quigley have been volunteering in Brunswick County for three years and New Hanover County for two years, Quigley said.

Quigley was diagnosed with endometrial and lung cancer last August. She said she sometimes uses the extra hospital visits as a chance for Bernie to visit his hospital friends again since the community has turned into their small village as she undergoes treatment.

“I take my IV pole and I take Bernie and we go see the other patients,” she said, noting they visited patients in the cancer unit before she was diagnosed, too.

She said volunteering with Bernie gets her out of the house, makes her happy and takes her mind off her illness. Bernie helps her as much as he helps the hospital staff and patients, she said.

Their help in the hospitals recently earned Quigley the Guardian Angel Award. “It was truly, truly a surprise and not one I felt I deserved…. I am very honored and very humbled that I received it,” Quigley said.

Besides her two volunteer days, she said they will do special requests by hospitals and nursing homes too. She said the two days and special requests are enough for her and Bernie.

She said Bernie’s job is to bring smiles to faces and that he does his job well.

“He just brings calm and lowers people’s blood pressure,” she said with a laugh.