This Dog Refused to Leave His Owner’s Hospital Bed Their Journey and Friendship Made Us Cry

[Music] when this dog's owner was diagnosed with cancer his canine companion displayed the unconditional love that can only come from man's best friend their story is an emotional adventure that takes in suffering happiness pain joy and ultimately loss prepare to be moved the stars of this story are van moon and his faithful dog Denali and it was documented in a short film that has swept across the Internet interestingly the movie was narrated from the viewpoint of Denali himself and the film serves as a tribute to the pooch who so lovingly watched after moon moon an adventure photographer and filmmaker based in Portland Oregon met Denali in an animal shelter in 1999 Denali a husky and pitbull mix was just two months old at the time as soon as I passed him he put his paw out cocked his head and kind of looked at me moon recounted in an interview with today he tore a lap around the room and then laid on my feet and rolled up on his back and looked at me it felt like he chose me for the next 15 years the two were rarely apart and they got to travel around the country in a van for Moon's photography career or as Denali humorously tells it in the film we went camping a lot I'd pretend I was a giant stinky butterfly in 2004 however moon was diagnosed with colorectal cancer it was advanced stage 3 and moon was in for a long road of treatment the moment moon realized the extent of the illness is described memorably in the film moon and Denali were in Joshua Tree and moon apparently blacked out and began to bleed moon went to a hospital in Bend Oregon for cancer surgery and by some miracle the nurses allowed Denali to stay in the hospital with moon during his 10-day stay moon told Men's Journal I don't know if it was just my nurses or one but Denali would sleep on my bed and my folks in my sister stayed in my camper van outside indeed Denali refused to leave moon sign when he was in the hospital bed with me he just sort of step up there so gently it was kind of mind-blowing moon told today he made sure he wasn't touching anything that was in pain and not invade my space fortunately just before moon turned 30 in April 2005 he had his last cancer treatment he was declared cancer-free soon afterward and he has remained so for the past 11 years moon and Denali resumed their travel and adventures together until 2014 when sadly it was Denalis turn to be diagnosed with cancer consequently the dog had four cancerous lumps removed but moon told today that after the surgery Denali suffered respiratory and kidney problems moon was asked to do a film shortly before Denali passed away and he felt it appropriate to make it into a tribute to his most loyal companion moon told Denali to hold on for just a month longer so he could complete his heartfelt message to his best buddy moon wanted to do for Denali with the dog had so selflessly done for him and stay by his side moon took Denali on one last trip together to some of the old places the pair used to visit he shot footage of the journey for his farewell tribute with the support of Patagonia and under direction of bentonite the film turned into something quite magical the decision to narrate the film from the perspective of Denali is really the icing on the cake certainly the humorous gentle and sincere tone fits perfectly with the theme of the film it could have gone cheesy or too sappy or too sad so quickly moon told today but director Ben Knight just nailed it the film shows Denali enjoying one of his favorite beaches in his last days he was not doing well he could barely walk but you just saw him on the beach and he was prancing around like a puppy moon told Men's Journal moon is ultimately very happy with the end result of the film which is titled Denali I was hoping it would resonate and connect with people said moon when we passed a million views it was mind-blowing the view count has increased even more standing to date at well over 2 million unfortunately Denali passed away in 2015 exactly a month after moon had asked him to stay a little longer in the film Denali described his last moments my last night was really peaceful I wasn't hungry anymore so I let Ben know it was time and he let me sleep on his chest all night but Denali will always live on in moon's memory as well as on his vibrant Instagram feed moon wrote a tribute to his best four-legged friend after he passed Thank You Denali for giving me the courage to hit the road with a camera a van and no plan back in 2001 for never taking your eye off me through a year of cancer treatments surgeries and countless other challenges it has been well over a year since Denali past but moon told Men's Journal that he had no plans for another dog soon luckily my girlfriend has an amazing dog that I get to spend time with so that fills the void a bit he said at the end of the film Denali recounts a quote from writer David Dudley he says there was this really smart scientist guy who thought that people could learn a lot from dogs he said that when someone you loved walks through the door even if that happens five times a day you should go totally insane with joy it is food for thought indeed