Long Valley Teen Fighting Cancer Meets Celeb Therapy Dog

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The McFarland family knows how important dogs can be to your health. Dad Mike McFarland previously worked designing a clinical trial that studied the effects dogs could have on children undergoing cancer treatments. Then his daughter, Anna, was diagnosed with leukemia herself.

"One of the things I spent a good chunk of my career doing over the last 10 years was exploring the science between the human-animal bond, all the different elements behind that bond and how it can contribute to human wellbeing. Its sort of the mother of all tragic ironies, right?" Mike said.

As a veterinarian and board member at American Humane, he was familiar with Morristown Medical Center's pet therapy program, called Soothing Paws. Now Anna would experience it herself.

"It was a bit surreal to come to this hospital that I had previously toured to see this incredible program and now instead of someone else's life, its mine. It's my daughter," Mike said.

And Anna didn't bond with just any dog. Her favorite "celebrity" therapy dog, Swoosh, made the trek from Tennessee to snuggle with the teen. Swoosh has been featured in several news outlets recently for the work he does with pediatric cancer patients (he is also active on Instagram).

"You know what warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you're happy? It's kind of that feeling," Anna said, as Swoosh sat happily in her lap.

For Swoosh's owner, that happiness is all that matters.

"When you meet a sweet girl like Anna, it's all worth it," Swoosh's owner said about the distance the duo had to travel.

"Anything that makes her smile right now and helps her forget the fight that she's in is a very good thing," Mike said,

"This has been, just these few months, such a nice break from the parent's worry, especially in a situation like this. For this brief period of time, I'm not [worrying]. It's nice to see her be a kid again. Just a normal experience. Better than normal, actually," mom Becky McFarland said.

Image provided to Patch by Morristown Medical Center, used with permission