The power of (canine) love

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MOSSEL BAY NEWS - "Death awaits all of us. We shouldn't get bogged down in the nitty gritties of life, the nonsense. Be nice and kind to people; love people. And never underestimate what animals can give, when you see them and engage with them."

These are the words of Johan Claassen, who owns a Yorkshire terrier who has touched many people's lives and has earned the title of "therapy dog".

Johan's brother, Nico, was in hospital for several months when the family lived in Somerset West. Johan estimates they visited him about 300 times. Soon the hospital turned a blind eye to the Yorkie, Bonzo, who Johan brought to the hospital.

In fact Bonzo was popular with many patients and some even started asking Johan if he could bring Bonzo to visit and say "hi".

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Johan, who is involved in property development, moved to Mossel Bay from Somerset West in 2018. It was while he lived in Somerset West that Bonzo gained his reputation as a therapy dog.

Sight and touch
"His benefit to people dealing with loss and illness in terms of sight and touch was amazing," Johan says. As an example, he mentions how he and Bonzo met a cancer patient walking outside the hospital who had Yorkies. She engaged with Bonzo and said how much she missed her dogs. "It was a joy for her to see Bonzo. Patients would see us and chat about their own pets."

Now, in Mossel Bay, Johan carries Bonzo around in a satchel on his back and Bonzo is a familiar sight at the Point and Hartenbos areas.

Johan explains that Nico, who passed away in 2017, had Down's syndrome. "He was fully functioning and healthy, until he had a fall in 2013." As a result of the fall Nico developed Parkinson's disease, which advanced fast. When he came out of hospital Nico was cared for at home by the siblings' mom, Sophia Claassen, for three years.

All his needs
Nico was bedridden, had to be turned every two hours and had to have all his needs taken care of. "My mom looked after him so well that he never had a single bedsore." Johan was also very involved in caring for his brother.

"My advice to people is don't try to do too much on your own, the way we did," Johan says. He did have carers who helped, but still, "the impact on the health of the family members fulfilling a carer role can be tremendous".

He says that Nico was 57 when he passed away. Sophia was elderly and the main carer of Nico. It was remarkable how Sophia cared for him so well, Johan points out. "She was a very loving person." She had a long career as a midwife. "She devoted her life to delivering babies," Johan says. "She used to go into District 6 in Cape Town and deliver babies during the Apartheid era, when you weren't allowed to go there."

Suddenly becoming ill
Sophia died at the age of 84 three weeks ago in Mossel Bay, after suddenly becoming ill. She and Johan moved to Mossel Bay at the same time last year. "She died of diverticulitis," Johan says. When Sophia was in hospital Johan brought Bonzo to visit her. Bonzo sat on the window ledge outside her hospital room. "He did not want to leave and also it gave my mom so much comfort to see Bonzo through the window," Johan says.

Bonzo also brought much joy to Nico. "He's an intuitive dog. He knew when Nico was about to have an epileptic fit." The fits started when Nico developed Parkinson's disease, Johan says.

Bonzo was actually Sophia's dog but is highly socialised and makes friends with everyone he meets. A restaurant that Johan frequents at the Point is happy to have Bonzo as a guest because he is so well behaved.

Unexpected
Sophia's illness and death was unexpected and a shock, Johan says, who is still processing the events of the last month. Also, it was very soon after having lost Nico in 2017. But Johan says: "I became highly aware that a person's primary relationship is always with God. No matter how much we love people, God loves them more." He intimates that sometimes we want people to stay, but his mother was ready to leave this world and go to the next when she passed away.

• To read a poem for Sophia Claassen, see letters page.

Johan Claassen and Bonzo.