Mount Pleasant Magazine Nov/Dec 2021

73 www.MtPl easant . Pet | www.MPVet s . Pet | www. f acebook . com/MPpet s PETS F E A T U R E HOUNDS IN THE HOSPITAL HOW THERAPY DOGS ARE MAKING A DIFFERENCE By Cathy C. Bennett Photos provided by Jeanne Taylor Photography “I thought the driver saw me,” was what I kept telling the policeman. It was half past seven on a cool October morning. There was no trace of humidity in the air, so I pitched my car keys onto the kitchen counter and carried my bicycle down the porch steps. My commute is exactly 1.2 miles from our front door to the revolving doors of the Medical University of South Carolina. Cruising to work on my teal-colored bicycle to my new job — the best job a retired HR professional could ever dream of having — seemed like a good idea on a beautiful fall day. Pedaling along Ashley Avenue, thoughts of the day ahead danced around my mind. As I crossed the inter- section, I nodded a friendly hello to the driver whose car idled at the corner waiting to turn. Apparently, he never saw me. When my bike glided in front of his path, his foot simultaneously applied pressure on the gas pedal, propelling me into the air. I can still visualize and re-play my mini-flight through the street. Accidents really do occur in slow motion. Why? Because our estimates of time depend on how much we remember, and more memories are laid down in an emergency. I still chuckle to myself remembering how, in mid-air, I tried to pedal faster, thinking I could coast down instead of crashing down onto the ground. When the EMS team arrived, I was still on the ground. I never lost consciousness, and I can recall oh-so-well the stench rising from the manhole my face was resting on.