Horsing around at Riverstreet Manor in Wilkes-Barre, PA
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WILKES-BARRE, PA (WNEP) — From his window, Kenneth Brocious tells Newswatch 16 some days can be lonely at Riverstreet Manor in Wilkes-Barre.
“People do come visit me here, not many, but I wasn’t really expecting anyone today and I’m looking up backwards to start with and it was like, ‘What’s going on here?'” Brocious said.
Horseplay was on the schedule at the skilled nursing facility on North River Street as Sweet Pea and Lady, along with their handlers, stopped by every window to say hello to residents stuck inside their rooms.
“Unfortunately, COVID has taken a huge toll on residents and has caused more than you can imagine. I mean families haven’t been able to come in, they can only see them from the windows, and there’s only so much you can get from that,” Polly Schaefer said.
Staff members at Riverstreet say it was one of the hardest-hit care homes in Luzerne County with COVID-19 and lost 25 residents to the virus since March. Something like volunteers visiting with their horses brings a much-needed smile to the patients quarantined in their rooms.
“It has taken that burden of depression off of them by allowing them to see such magnificent creatures up so close,” said Schaefer.
“It was amazing I really love seeing the elderly have a nice time. Personally, our family is taking care of several elderly people so I understand how hard it is for a person to go through all of these months of quarantine and we can relate to them on a personal level, that’d be great. That’s what I tried to do today,” Dakota Wilson said.
“It’s super rewarding,” added Paige Cuba. “You got to see for yourself how they look and how they feel and we did it by accident one time in Tunkhannock and then Polly contacted us and we came out to do this one.”
These riders hope to continue the visits throughout our area in the coming weeks.
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