Dogs are a man’s best friend, even when we’re stuck in hospital.
On January 14, Cemal Senturk was taken to Medical Park Hospital in Trabzon, Turkey, by ambulance. While his cause of illness hasn’t been confirmed, he had to stay in the hospital for six days before he was well enough to be discharged.
Back at home, his loyal pooch Boncuk wasn’t keen on waiting around the apartment for her owner to come back. So, similar to Greyfriars Bobby, she escaped the flat and waited outside the hospital every day.
The first time Boncuk was found outside the hospital, peering in through its automatic doors as people came and went, staff notified Senturk of her whereabouts.
Murat Ercan, the hospital’s international patient centre director, explained to CNN that Boncuk was transported back home. However, she somehow managed to escape and come back to the hospital. Senturk’s home was nearby, but his family haven’t been able to confirm exactly how the dog managed to keep escaping.
In a statement, Ercan said: ‘His dog Boncuk has followed him to the hospital gate and refused to leave for six days until her owner was discharged. Even though the family [took] Boncuk back home she managed to escape every day to wait at the hospital gate.’
Eventually, in order to try and comfort the dog, Senturk ended up communicating with his pet through a window each day. Sometimes, Boncuk would poke her nose through the doors, but she mostly remained outside, patiently waiting for her owner to come out.
One of the hospital’s security guards, Muhammet Akdeniz, told the DHA news agency: ‘She comes every day around 9am and waits until nightfall. She doesn’t go in. When the door opens she pokes her head inside.’
However, despite the family’s best efforts to keep the dog at home, she kept coming back and soon won the affection of the hospital’s staff. As she sat and waited, they’d come out and feed her and take care of her. During his stay, Senturk said he missed his dog a lot.
Ercan said: ‘Cemal Senturk has been with Boncuk for nine years and he also stated that he missed her a lot during his stay at the hospital.’
He added: ‘After he was cleared to go out he met his dog at the hospital gate. Boncuk has behaved really sweet during the six days and has managed to capture the love and affection of the whole staff.’