21 January 2021

Devoted dog spends days outside Turkish hospital waiting for owner

21 January 2021

A devoted dog spent days waiting outside a hospital in northern Turkey where her sick owner was receiving treatment.

The pet, called Boncuk, which means bead, followed the ambulance that transported her owner Cemal Senturk to hospital in the Black Sea city of Trabzon on January 14.

Cemal Senturk with his dog Boncuk outside a medical care facility in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, Turkey (AP)

She then made daily visits to the facility, private news agency DHA reported.

Mr Senturk’s daughter, Aynur Egeli, said she would take Boncuk home but the dog would repeatedly run off and return to the hospital.

Hospital security guard Muhammet Akdeniz told DHA: “She comes every day around 9am and waits until nightfall. She doesn’t go in.”

“When the door opens, she pokes her head inside,” he said.

Devoted dog Boncuk looks for his owner, Cemal Senturk, at the entrance of a medical care facility in the Black Sea city of Trabzon, Turkey (AP)

On Wednesday, Boncuk was finally reunited with Mr Senturk when he was pushed outside in a wheelchair for a brief meeting with his dog.

“She’s very used to me. And I miss her, too, constantly,” he told DHA.

Mr Senturk was discharged from the hospital later on Wednesday and returned home with Boncuk.

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