Jasper The Therapy Dog
September 9, 2020
Six NHS workers including Jasper and his owner, hospital chaplain David Anderson, will be on hand to switch on the world-famous display.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic the resort’s annual celebration will take place on Friday night behind closed doors, but will be filmed in the Tower Ballroom.
The “Corona Heroes” will join the event hosted by Diversity’s Jordan Banjo and Perri Kiely, Blackpool-born singer-songwriter Rae Morris and the Illuminations’ creative curator Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen.
This year’s theme of Bring On The Light will feature a display of hearts and rainbows along the Promenade’s Golden Mile, along with images of a further 48 Corona Heroes from hundreds of nominations across the UK.
Those chosen to pull the switch include nurse Leona Harris, from Rossendale, Lancashire, nicknamed “the Angel from the North”. She helped raise £75,000 to buy iPads for patients in hospitals, care homes and hospices all over Britain to keep families connected.
Joining her is six-year-old Will Ritchie, from Wirral, Merseyside, who raised £14,000 for hospitals in the area after he walked a marathon in a month.
The youngster, who was born with severe visual impairment and suffers with epilepsy, struggled to reach 100 metres at the start of lockdown but later stepped up to 1,500 metres a day.
Hospital chaplain David Anderson and therapy dog Jasper were also chosen for the support and comfort they provided to patients as well as boosting morale for staff at hospitals in east Lancashire.
Completing the line-up are Dr Jason Cupitt, who led the Covid-19 response at Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s intensive care unit; Donna Doyle, restaurant manager at Liverpool’s Alder Hey Hospital; and nurses Kirsty Jones and Rachelle Sutton, who moved out of their family homes while working at Blackpool’s Trinity Hospice and Manchester’s Nightingale Hospital.
Gillian Campbell, cabinet member for tourism and culture for Blackpool Council, said: “Those that have been invited to perform the actual switch-on will be there to represent the hundreds of thousands of people who have done so much to protect and support the British people.
“This is an extraordinary year with our traditional celebration on the Tower Festival Headland becoming a virtual event, but we are delighted that the switch-on moment will be a tribute to the truly remarkable people who have led our nation’s response to coronavirus.”
The Illuminations will stay lit for an extra two months until January 3 to boost tourist trade.
Most Recent News
Former Victoria man’s diabetic alert dog helps him get back to life
When Luke Hengen’s diabetes worsened in his early twenties, it stripped him of the outdoor activities where the country kid felt at home. Countless wilderness adventures and years of hard-fought football games took a toll on his body, to the point where he could no longer sense when his blood sugar was too high or […]
Students Get Therapy Dog
When middle school students return to class on Jan. 11, they’ll find a new face at the door: Daisy. Daisy is a therapy dog and the personal pet of Rob Kreger, principal of the Rock L. Butler Middle School. The five-year-old golden retriever is not a school pet or mascot, but rather a working dog […]
Therapy Dogtor
Last March, Caroline Benzel, a third-year medical student, began to notice the stress and discomfort her nurse friends were feeling from the pressures of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. “[Personal protective equipment] can be really rough on the skin,” Benzel, 31, tells PEOPLE. Benzel and her 3-year-old Rottweiler, Loki (who’s also a therapy dog) hatched a […]
Therapy Dog Pups
When Stanley the miniature fox terrier’s owner passed away, the little dog started a ‘paw-some’ new role – bringing puppy love to some of the Gold Coast’s oldest residents. After Carinity Cedarbrook Diversional Therapist Julianne Staff adopted Stanley, he began visiting the aged care community at Mudgeeraba as a therapy dog. Therapy dogs help to […]
Puppy Cams
A nonprofit is providing an unusual form of therapy for those on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic – puppy cams! “You spend five minutes with a puppy and try not to smile,” said registered nurse Robin Lingg Lagrone. Lingg Lagrone says watching little furballs wag their tails and prance on their paws helps […]
Pet Committee
When Moore County’s school doors were abruptly closed earlier in 2020, two- and four-legged volunteers from the Moore County Citizens’ Pet Responsibility Committee (PRC) were in their 12th year of presenting a six-session Pet Responsibility Education Program for fourth-graders. The PRC quickly shifted gears and placed its program materials online as part of a home […]