Nico was featured on the news to share a little about his story with Velour, the new facility dog at Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt! 🐕

When he was inpatient last year, he missed his own dog, Yoshi, so much. His room was covered with pictures of family, friends, and of course him and Yoshi. One day, a nurse mentioned that she had seen the new facility dog walking down the hall and that it looked a lot like a picture of Yoshi. From that moment on, Nico asked daily if he could meet the new dog, Velour. She was still in training and wasn’t officially seeing patients yet.

That’s when Child Life made the connection and introduced Nico to Velour’s trainer, and he was invited to be Velour’s “assistant trainer.” They worked together before and after his transplant. She made a huge difference in our hospital experience, helping us through some of the toughest days. Nico was so excited to see Velour working with the patient in the news story, and see her working on games and activities they learned together. He’s very proud of her and all the work she does with kids going through tough times in the hospital. We feel so lucky that Vanderbilt has added “canine clinicians” to the team.

Tomorrow marks six months since Nico’s heart transplant. He had a cath on Tuesday, and today we got the incredible news that his biopsy is still negative for rejection or complications! So proud of Nico for his bravery and perseverance. We are forever grateful for his donor, his amazing medical team (especially Velour), and all who have helped us get to this point in his recovery!

We are so thankful for your love and support. This journey wouldn’t be the same without our incredible community rallying behind us. Thank you for being part of Nico’s story and for making a difference in the lives of transplant families like ours.

https://www.wsmv.com/2025/03/20/monroe-carell-jr-childrens-hospital-vanderbilt-adds-new-facility-dog-staff/