Florida Woman Wakes Up From Coma After Golden Retriever Therapy Dog Nuzzles Her Hand
Sometimes healing shows up in the softest, sweetest way, like a warm Golden Retriever nose brushing against your hand.
And honestly, if you’re a dog lover, you already know that a little nuzzle can change everything. For one woman in Florida, it changed her entire life.
This story starts in a hospital room, where Priscilla Timmons lay completely still, caught in the fight of her life. Doctors didn’t think she’d make it. Her chances were barely 10%.
She had suffered a massive pulmonary edema, a frightening blood clot in her lungs, and she was placed in a medically induced coma with no guarantee she’d ever wake up again.
For 21 long days, her loved ones waited, prayed, and hoped for even the tiniest sign.
Nurses talked to her. Doctors checked on her constantly. Her family whispered encouragement. But still… nothing.
Then came Scrunchie.
Scrunchie isn’t just any Golden Retriever. She’s a therapy dog with a heart as big as her fluffy tail, and she visits Memorial Hospital West in Pembroke Pines with her buddy Honey Crisp.
They’re there to spread comfort, not perform miracles, but sometimes comfort is the miracle.
When Scrunchie entered Priscilla’s room, something shifted. She gently nuzzled her hand, the way dogs do when they’re trying to say, “Hey, I’m here.”
And that tiny moment sparked something no one expected. During a ceremony at the hospital a few days later, Priscilla said to a crowd:
“I remember everyone telling me she was there. I then felt her paw, and that’s when I was able to move my fingers and lift my hand off the bed, and into the air. As a huge dog lover, this gave me all the motivation.”
It was the first movement she had made. The very first sign that Priscilla was still in there, still fighting, still trying to come back.
Before that moment, she could only hear voices drifting around her. She couldn’t speak, couldn’t move, couldn’t even open her eyes.
And then a dog touched her hand and somehow, her body responded.
Priscilla’s recovery after that was slow but steady, and incredibly emotional.
She pushed through everything her doctors asked of her, supported by a medical team who refused to give up, family who stayed by her side, and a Golden Retriever who just knew when someone needed extra love.
Scrunchie and Honey Crisp weren’t trained to wake someone from a coma. Therapy dogs don’t do medical tasks.
But they do something even more powerful: they help people feel safe, comforted, and seen. And sometimes, their timing is downright magical.
Some therapy dogs brighten classrooms. Others bring joy to senior homes or walk hospital hallways with wagging tails. And Scrunchie? She brought hope to someone who desperately needed it.
When Priscilla finally recovered, the hospital threw a press conference to celebrate her journey, and of course, the fluffy heroes were invited.
Scrunchie and Honey Crisp trotted right up to her like old friends, ready for more snuggles and soaking up the love they helped create.
In the end, a woman who was almost lost came back thanks to skilled doctors, nonstop support, and the gentle touch of a dog who showed up at exactly the right moment.
Honestly, that feels like the kind of miracle only a Golden Retriever could deliver.
