A Moment of Freedom, Brought Home

There are moments in hospice care when medicine steps quietly into the background and humanity takes the lead. For our patient Elaria, that moment arrived on a day filled with music, movement and a small horse with an extraordinary gift.

Elaria is 18 years old, living with a severe genetic illness that has shaped her entire life. Following a bone marrow transplant in childhood, she developed chronic respiratory failure and now depends on continuous high-flow oxygen to breathe. Leaving her home is no longer safe, and her world has become smaller as her illness has progressed.

Originally from Egypt, Elaria and her family were visiting the United States when her health suddenly declined. Because of her medical fragility, they are unable to return home. Far from familiar surroundings and with limited resources, her family relies on faith, community and one another as they navigate this chapter together.

Despite everything, Elaria remains bright, curious and imaginative. She speaks openly about the places she dreams of visiting and the experiences she longs to have. Horses, she says, represent freedom. She imagines riding across the sands of Egypt, wind in her hair, unburdened by illness.

At Providence at Home with Compassus, honoring moments like these is part of how care is delivered. When Elaria shared how much she missed the beach, her pediatric hospice nurse and chaplain in Torrance, CA, brought the beach to her—gathering ocean water, sand and seashells to create a sensory experience at home. Her mother later shared how profoundly it lifted Elaria’s spirit, reconnecting her to the world beyond her illness.

But one wish remained especially close to Elaria’s heart: to ride a horse.

While her medical needs made that impossible, her care team refused to let the wish go unanswered. Working alongside the Living Foundation and a remarkable organization that provides miniature therapy horses to homebound individuals, they found a way to bring that feeling of freedom safely to her doorstep.

On the day of the visit, Elaria met a miniature therapy horse that could do something extraordinary—play the keyboard and dance. Together, Elaria and the horse tapped out music then danced to Taylor Swift’s “Shake It Off.” From her wheelchair, Elaria laughed and moved alongside her new friend, joy filling the room in a way no monitor could measure. For a moment, the limitations of illness faded. There was only music, movement and connection.

This is what hospice care can look like when compassion leads the way. Not just managing symptoms, but honoring who someone is. Not just easing physical pain, but tending to the heart, the spirit and the dreams that still matter.

Elaria’s story is a reminder that even when life becomes fragile, meaning remains. And when care is rooted in dignity, creativity and presence, moments of freedom are still possible—sometimes in the most unexpected ways.