FORT MILL, S.C. — When a Fort Mill woman lost her mom she needed to find a new home for her mother’s best friend, her dog Cooper.
As fate would have it, the dog’s adoption sparked a new friendship between two “strangers."
When Robin Perrry’s mom, Sue Lemka, was sick she was taken to Piedmont Medical Center for care.
During Lemka's time there, one of her nurses, Nino Malabed, formed a strong bond with her and her poodle mix, Cooper.
Such a strong bond, that after Lemka passed away, Malabed helped make sure Cooper had a loving home.
As a nurse clinical supervisor, it’s rare for Nino Malabed to even see patients.
"The [emergency department] was just so busy that we have to open another side of med surg the b side. and we have to open at least six beds," Malabed recalled.
But one of the days he did, he met a, in his words, “very opinionated New Yorker."
"And somehow she likes me," Malabed chuckled.
After Lemka was admitted, her daughter, Robin Perry, came in and asked if she could bring in Cooper, Lemka's service dog.
"And so that's my first time to meet Cooper," Malabed said. "Initially, when I knocked on the door, he started barking, because I was wearing a mask as soon as I removed the mask he was cool."
Lemka spent three days in the hospital where she was later discharged, shortly after she peacefully passed away at the age of 90.
Devastated, Perry knew she needed to find a home for Cooper, one that would love him as much as her mother did.
"So I did end up posting Cooper's picture on our neighborhood Facebook group. and I got a lot of responses because he's just adorable," Perry said.
But one message in particular got her attention. Nino and his family, who happen to live in the same neighborhood, said they would take Cooper in.
"Honestly, at that point, the deal was done in my mind because Nino had provided such amazing care to my mom," Perry said. "So that's what made the difference because I knew someone who could care for my mom like that, and that knew my mom, was going to be great with Cooper."
Perry said it was hard at first to let go of Cooper because every time she looked at him, she thought of her mom. But said this is the best-case scenario for both of them.
"That tail is wagging, and I see him being walked in the neighborhood," Perry said. "And he's just as happy as can be. And he's also lost weight, he's in better shape."
Perry said Cooper was spoiled living with her mom, but after just a few months with the Malabeds? She said Cooper is even more spoiled now.
"They sent me birthday pictures," she said. "he'd never had a party like that before."
Perry said today, Tuesday, May 21, would have been her mother’s 91st birthday and said she would do something special today to commemorate.
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