MINNEAPOLIS — When a Minnesota mother and father learned their 5-month-old baby girl wasn't going to survive, they knew only one thing could make their family feel just a little better: their basset hounds.
Baby Nora Hall suffered a stroke on April 6. Her family says it caused severe brain damage to both sides of her brain. According to mom Mary Hall, Nora was born with abnormally small blood vessels.
Doctors at Children’s Hospital in Minneapolis delivered the devastating news to Mary and John Hall that their beloved baby girl likely wouldn’t make it.
When the family welcomed Nora just a few months ago, their basset hounds, Gracie and Grumpy, immediately fell in love with her.
"Gracie, especially, took on the role as second mother," Mary Hall told ABC News. "Whenever Nora would cry, Gracie would run to see what was wrong. She was always, always by Nora and kissing her and making sure she was OK."
When doctors asked if there was anything they could do to make saying goodbye a little easier, the couple asked if they could bring their dogs to Nora’s side.
“I didn’t want to go home and have them sniffing around for her and not knowing where she went,” Mary said.
The hospital lowered the bed, and the dogs laid solemnly by Nora’s side, as if sensing something was wrong.
"It brought us a lot of comfort to have them," Mary said. "But by the end of the first day, you could see they were stressed out and depressed. Normally, they're very happy-go-lucky. We knew they could sense there was something wrong."
In a heartbreaking Facebook post, Mary said a final goodbye to her baby girl.
"Rest now, and watch over us until we can be together and hear your laugh and hug you and kiss you and hold you again,” Mary wrote.
The family has started a GoFundMe page, raising more than $27,000. If you would like to donate, click here.