Tall dream comes true

With a list of burning questions in hand, Patricia Prance answered an incoming video call. On the other end of the line – a giraffe and his zookeeper. 

Prance has virtually visited not one but two giraffes thanks to St. Joseph's Health Care London's Palliative Care Unit at Parkwood Institute. Her interest in giraffes first sparked when she visited African Lion Safari as a kid.  

“I just fell in love with the way they ran and their tall necks. And I'm tall and lanky and run kind of like a giraffe,” she laughs.

Prance always dreamed of meeting a giraffe and being able to pet it, but travel presented logistical challenges, especially by the time she was admitted to palliative care at Parkwood Institute. Using technology to bring one to her was the next best thing.  

“We couldn't figure out how to get a giraffe here to Parkwood Institute. If we could have, we would have,” says Angela Schaefer, Clinical Manager of St. Joseph's Complex Care Program.

As it turns out, giraffes don’t enjoy being pet anyway, so a virtual visit was perfect. It allowed Prance to not only meet a giraffe but also pick a zookeeper’s brain and learn about her favourite animal from someone who works with them every day.

To prepare for her giraffe encounter, Prance dressed in her best, including animal print hair dye done by a friend. Music therapist Jill Kennedy helped Prance collect questions for the zookeeper to answer on their call. Topics she was most curious about included their diets, social behaviour, unique spot patterns and how parents raise their babies.  

"The men don't do anything” is one thing she learned. “Some animals do. I thought maybe the giraffe male did, but I had no idea.”

St. Joseph’s palliative care program takes a holistic approach to care, paying attention to each person’s unique physical, psychological, social and spiritual needs. Identifying a patient’s goals is a key part of making sure their time at Parkwood Institute fulfills those needs.

"Sometimes they're things like ‘I want to be comfortable,’ ‘I want to spend time with my family as much as I can.’ Sometimes they're more specific things, like meeting a giraffe,” Schaefer says.

Each resident’s room has a dry erase board that lets them express their interests, values, favourite activities and sources of support. It’s an important tool that allows staff to engage with each person and understand what matters to them. In conversations developing Prance’s board, her love of giraffes quickly emerged. Her care team knew they had to make a visit happen.

Of course, sourcing a giraffe comes with its challenges. Kennedy first contacted the Toronto Zoo, who wanted to participate but were in the midst of relocating some giraffes. In the meantime, she reached out to a giraffe sanctuary in Texas. Technology connected them across space and time, letting Prance meet a baby giraffe located nearly 2,000 kilometres away in another time zone.

“He met a jersey cow and they kissed and became friends. I got to see them doing that for the first time. He ate with his handler and he had many heart-shaped spots,” Prance recalls.

Shortly after this first visit, the Toronto Zoo got back in touch saying they could go ahead with a virtual call. If you’re offered a giraffe visit, you should never turn it down, so Prance met another one on Nov. 5 – this time a fully grown adult bending his long neck to peer into the camera.

“It meant the world to me,” Prance says. “That was amazing to me, for me to have that.”

Prance’s curiosity, joy and gratitude leave no doubt that, for the right person, holistic care certainly includes virtual giraffe visits.