Sharing Magazine

Gina Marie: Healing Dog on Four Paws

by The Rev. Dr. Mara Crabtree

Gina Marie Luna, a beautiful, purebred Akita, sat quietly and attentively as she was named an honorary member of Region 2, Order of St. Luke, by unanimous approval of the Rev. Lee Rose, Director, and members of the Order, during the region’s May, 2011 healing conference. Tom Luna, Gina’s closest human friend, shared that day, with a rapt audience, the amazing history of Gina’s life and ministry as one of God’s canine healing angels.

Years before, Tom desired a canine companion to join him during the many enjoyable hours he spent in his English cottage garden. His research revealed the existence of seven purebred Akita puppies, born in a barn on a snowy November night, 2004, in Carrsville, Virginia. As Tom visited the breeder’s farm, where the puppies and their parents resided, he entered the barn area and out scuttled three small fluffy-coated eleven-week-old female puppies, who delighted Tom as he knelt down to play with them. He had been praying, "Please, Lord, help me to choose the right one." It seemed that almost immediately, the Lord spoke within Tom’s heart: "Choose the one with the black mask". Suzanne, Tom’s wife, once worked for a family who owned a large German Shepherd named Gina and suggested to Tom that he name the beautiful black-masked Akita puppy, Gina Marie.

As Gina grew, she and Tom enjoyed many walks together. One day, they were approached by a neighbor who introduced Tom to a father and his small child who was confined, due to medical reasons, to a wheelchair. Gina, without any prodding Tom, slowlyl and softly approached the child and began gently, tenderly licking his face with "canine kisses."

Tom’s neighbor observed that the gentle, sensitive Gina would be a wonderful service dog, especially in visiting hospitalized children. That comment sparked Tom to begin the process for Gina to become a certified service canine.

The first step in the process was passing the AKC (American Kennel Club) Canine Good Citizenship test, consisting of fourteen assessment stations testing for temperament, obedience, and quality of behavior in a public place; the ability to sit, to stay, and to calmly tolerate noises and strangers approaching and petting her. Gina passed every test with a perfect score. Tom next researched canine therapy groups and chose Therapy Dogs International as the organization in which Gina would test for certification. On the day of the TDI exam, Gina and 21 other dogs were assessed again using the AKC test, followed by TDI’s own version which included assessment in working with mobility-challenged patients including those using wheelchairs. Gina again passed with a perfect score. As Tom received Gina’s assessment from the evaluator, he took Tom aside and quietly whispered, "Sir, you have an exceptional canine."

Next, Tom applied for Gina to serve at the Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, Norfolk, Virginia, for one of eight canine therapy positions. CHKD hired in-house evaluators to test the fifteen dogs registered for the assessment which was designed to evaluate the candidates’ possible reaction to another dog. The process required Gina to ride an elevator, and then walk to the patient room of a 10-year- old- girl where evaluators waited, clipboards in hand, accompanied by a Golden Labrador Retriever. When Tom asked permission for him and Gina to enter the room, Gina completely ignored the other dog and went directly, quietly and gently to the young girl.

Three weeks later Tom received the great news: "Welcome to the CHKD Buddy Brigade." In 2008, Gina was now a certified, highly trained, hospital therapy dog. She has been evaluated as one of the best therapy dogs in the United States and is highly requested by hospitals.

Gina is qualified as a service dog for the handicapped with the skill to assist the mobility impaired. She is registered with the United States Service Dog Registry who tested her under critical conditions at the Norfolk Airport. Given a boarding pass by a national airline, she was required by TSA agents to walk to the gate, without Tom, and then through a checkpoint. The agent asked Tom if she would mind if he patted her down and Tom indicated that she should do fine. Gina remained very calm during the procedure. "Now sir, directed the TSA agent, "it is your turn; walk through; I am going to pat you down and run a wand over you". Gina knew the difference between someone who is and is not a threat and again calmly waited on Tom as the procedure concluded. Once completed, three Norfolk policemen who had been carefully observing the testing approached Tom and complimented Gina on her abilities and behavior. Gina has been in hotels, movie theaters, and runners’ marathons of 20,000 people and remains her calm, assured and patient self. She has worked with the handicapped, helping them with various forms of therapy including teaching the mobility-impaired to walk again. Gina is able to confidently move a child, in a wheelchair, down a long hall. She assists the healing process in children learning to walk again as she waits patiently, with her compassionate, steady gaze, encouraging their efforts to walk to her.

Following the tragic events resulting in woundings and loss of life on the campus of Virginia Tech in April, 2007, the university’s administration invited Tom and Gina Marie, along with other therapy dogs, to provide support and comfort to grieving members of the faculty, staff, students, visiting parents and relatives. They spent eight hours a day for two days on campus and were housed at an inn with state troopers and other dogs. They also visited a tent set up by international ministry team members who provided therapy and counsel. Tom explains that Gina’s behavior could only be described as "reverent" as she endured long hours on campus with silence and patience, often staying at the area set aside for memorials to victims of the tragedy. Tom remembers that the memorial areas had the atmosphere of a sanctuary and many a parent or grandparent asked to take pictures with Gina. Parents, grandparents, faculty, staff members and others were weeping as state troopers expressed to Tom a heartfelt "Thank you for bringing your dog". Gina is now included in the official archives at Virginia Tech. Tom received a personal e-mail from Virginia Tech President Charles Steger thanking Tom and Gina for their presence during the traumatic time on campus.

Gina’s last assessment was in January, 2010, in Savannah, Georgia where she received certification as a member of the TDI Disaster Stress Relief Dog Team. At the invitation of FEMA (the Federal Emergency Management Agency) she is on call for deployment to various disaster areas. Prior to Gina’s FEMA assessment, she and Tom traveled all night on Amtrak, arriving only a spare one minute before 8:00 am, when the stringent nine-hour test began in the bitterly cold morning.Twenty-five dogs from around the nation were tested. All Savannah emergency teams were represented during the testing maneuvers: fire engines, helicopters and horses. There was one unbreakable ground rule in the testing: one mistake and trainer and dog must leave. Of all the dogs tested, only Gina and six others earned their stripes.

Dr. Hallstrom of Norfolk, Gina’s veterinarian, commented when she was very young: "I have been around many large dogs and Gina’s temperament is incredible. I would like to follow her career". During Gina’s attendance at numerous Norfolk Police Academy Christmas socials and many other events, Gina’s displays a very gentle and gracious manner. One of the police captains asked Tom if Gina has even displayed bad temper and Tom’s answer was a resounding "No!"

Tom and Gina’s relationship has developed into a deep trust and sensitive communication with one another. His daily walks in the woods with Gina always involves a time of kneeling down and praying for a few minutes while Tom offers petitions and intercessions for many needs. Patiently and quietly, Gina sits beside Tom, his arm around her as his prayers are fervently offered in the beauty of the natural surroundings. He shares the beautiful memory of an extraordinary experience during one of those prayer times: "We knelt down by the river (a branch of the Elizabeth in Norfolk) and I was praying. The Lord had impressed me to pray for people who needed healing and spoke to my heart: ‘Tom, it is the power of my Cross that will heal them’. When I said ‘Amen’, and got up, Gina began tugging at her leash as she trotted me towards a swampy area and behold, before our eyes was a huge wooden cross that had been washed up from the river." Tom explained that the cross was dotted with large holes at the ends of the horizontal cross beam, reminding him of the nail holes that would have been present in Jesus’ Cross.

The cross was old, about four feet high without a single nail, obviously made by a skilled craftsman. Amazed, Tom prayed a grateful "Thank you Lord" and explains that "I dragged the cross to my pickup, brought it home and showed it to my wife Suzanne. It was placed in our backyard, in a prominent place. A few years later, when we sold the home, we decided to allow the cross to remain there".

The ways in which the Lord has used Gina Marie to minister healing to others points to the fact that the miraculous is not limited to human instrumentation alone. Tom delights in sharing a few of the amazing healing experiences he has witnessed with Gina. "We were at a large pet store and I was talking with a couple of the employees. Gina was by my side and tugged at her leash. When she does this I have learned to say ‘Show me’. As I said this, she began walking briskly down the aisle of the store, turning here and there. When we came to one aisle she stopped and looked ahead.There was a mother with her daughter who appeared to be about 11 years of age. I had never seen them before, but Gina walked to the young girl and quietly sat beside her, no one saying a word. In a moment the girl put her hand out and Gina kissed the hand with gentle licks." The girl’s mother, with tears in her eyes, said to Tom, "My daughter was mauled by a dog when she was a toddler and you have brought healing to my daughter". Tom said he wanted to get their names, but as quickly as the event happened, Tom looked around and the mother and young girl could not be seen.

Another time Tom and Gina Marie attended an event with a very large crowd of people. Even when it was time for Gina to leave, she was reluctant to do so. As she continued to pull ahead on her leash, Tom followed Gina until she stopped in front of a woman, and then looked up and tenderly "kissed" her face. The woman tearfully explained that her daughter had very recently died. Gina Marie’s deeply sensitive discernment to human need compelled her to go to this grieving woman and offer her a silent, but powerful, tangible sign of loving comfort and understanding.

During a day when Tom and Gina were on duty at Children’s Hospital of the King’s Daughters, two nurses approached Tom and explained that a young girl had been severely burned over her entire body; only a portion of her face remained unbandaged. The nurses called, "Oh, Tom, bring Gina into the room". The tiny child could barely move, but turned her head at the sight of the large, beautiful dog. As Gina steadily looked at her the girl slowly and quietly smiled. Tom remembers that "Tears filled my eyes as I saw the smile Gina brought to the face of that suffering child".

On another day at the hospital, Tom recalls that "Gina and I were walking by the nurses' station on 7th floor when I heard one of the nurses speak out: "There is that dog!" I stopped immediately and walked back to the nurses’ station: ‘Do you mean my dog?’ and she replied ‘Yes!’" The nurse continued to explain to Tom: "A couple of weeks ago you and Gina visited a patient while his parents were in the room. After you left the parents came to us with joy on their faces saying ‘Our son is speaking!’" At the time of the visit Tom was not aware that the eight-year-old boy was unable to communicate, a dysfunction resulting from a condition related to his emotional health. During the visit he enjoyed playing with Gina and petting her soft coat. It was not long after Gina and Tom left the room that the child began speaking.

Gina is now working in the child abuse treatment program at CHKD. She is called to visit a victim of abuse in a playroom setting one hour before the child’s interview by a staff member. Tom is not briefed with any information about the child, but waits with Gina as her loving presence calms and relaxes the child. The child is then taken to the interview and promised that new friend Gina will be waiting to see the young patient after the interview.

One cannot fully fathom the giftings and abilities God has placed within Gina Marie and other amazing canine friends whose lives are devoted to such amazing service; service that helps and heals; service that encourages and brings comfort; service that delights hearts just by experiencing the presence of such amazing creatures. The Holy Spirit had spoken to Tom during a time of intercession in the woods: "The power of My Cross will heal them." Apparently the power of God’s ministry of healing is not limited to time or space, to certain persons or places or to only God’s human creatures, but the Lord’s fullness of mercy expressed in those gifts of healing that flow from the finished work of the Cross: His Body and His Blood-given and shed for us. God’s unlimited and unfathomable love is constantly reaching out, in visible and invisible ways, through humanity and through those creatures He chooses to use in amazing ways as "ministers of healing," including those exceptional ministers like Gina Marie: one of God’s healing angels on four paws.

 

The Rev. Dr. Mara L. Crabtree, Chaplain, Tidewater, VA chapter; Region 2 Representative for Virginia Chapter, interviewed Tom Luna for this article.

Tom Luna is a semi-retired medical educator, recently inducted into the St. Bonaventure High School, Ventura CA, Hall of fame as a football coach. His has served as a counselor, administrator, high school teacher for language and business courses; and a hospital and prison chaplain. Suzanne Luna, Tom’s wife, has served as both a co-convener and treasurer for Tidewater Chapter, OSL.