Perfect therapy pet after recovery from being hit by a truck, Hannah now helps patients in hospitals.

There was little doubt in Lance Cpl. Eric Palmisano's e-mail that Hannah would be willing to give back after recovering from injuries suffered when she was hit by a semitrailer in fall 2005.

"I can assure you when she regains her strength, she will provide your family with more love and entertainment than ever thought possible from a dog," he wrote to Jennifer and Steve Beno of Green Bay, who took Hannah in after her accident.        

Palmisano, a Marine from Florence, wrote that e-mail a few months before he left for Iraq.
In April 2006, he died when the truck he was riding in overturned in a flash flood.
In the ensuing years, Hannah has meant a lot to - and helped - people far beyond the Benos and Palmisano's family. Last fall, she was named 2007 Planetree National Therapy Animal of the Year for her work with patients in a Green Bay hospital.

"There's something special about Hannah. She's got that spirit. We think that's part of Eric," Jennifer Beno said. "It's such a big deal for people to be able to have a dog come visit them and try to make them feel better."

Hannah is a regular with patients at Aurora BayCare Medical Center in Green Bay, making visits to those who want interaction with a dog during their stay at the hospital.

Both staff and the Benos say that interaction with patients makes a difference. Barbara Vela, a registered nurse and vice president of nursing services at Aurora BayCare, said under their care philosophy they realized many of their patients had animals and studies have shown inclusion of animals in the recovery process can help reduce anxiety among patients, reduce blood pressure and help patients become ambulatory.

"We have some studies that show when a dog comes in a room, (a patient's) anxiety decreases much more than when a human visits them," she said.

Vela said the program has been well received by many patients. "Their losses aren't apparent to the dogs so it helps them try to speak a little more with the therapy," Vela said. Steve Beno found Hannah after she was hit by the semitrailer in fall 2005 while on a business trip in Michigan. Leading up to the accident, Hannah was in the care of an adopted family after Palmisano enlisted in the Marines. Following the accident with the semi, Eric's parents - Bobbie and Herb Samme - were contacted and it was decided the dog would live with the Benos until Eric got home from Iraq.

That road would eventually lead to pet therapy. "She's in the hands of someone who can help her make a difference," said Bobbie Samme. Joining the Marines helped prove to Palmisano that if he set his mind to something, he could do it and accomplish just about anything, his mother said.

"Through Hannah, that legacy lives on," Samme said. "Hannah is accomplishing things she never did when she was with Eric or with us because we didn't have the resources to know she could do that."   

Published by: Wisconsin State Journal, Sunday, March 30, 2008
By NATHAN PHELPS, Green Bay Press-Gazette