Peyo and his owner once competed at dressage events. Now they spend their time doing rounds in a French hospital, often staying with sick people until the end. All photographs by Jeremy Lempin/Divergence
Main image: At the palliative care centre Peyo and his trainer Hassen Bouchakour arrive at the adult wards after visiting the children at Calais Hospital. Photograph: Jeremy Lempin/Divergence
Fri 12 Mar 2021 03.15 EST Last modified on Wed 19 Oct 2022 11.42 EDT
In the palliative care centre at Calais Hospital in northern France, Marion, 24, who has metastatic cancer, cuddles her seven-year-old son, Ethan, as Peyo nuzzles them both. ‘With Peyo, we try to recreate life at the end of life, in order to fight, and create an energy to accompany families and caregivers,’ says his trainer, Hassen Bouchakour. Peyo and Bouchakour work with Les Sabots du Coeur, an organisation devoted to therapy, and with scientists who are studying Peyo’s ability to reduce patients’ anxiety and comfort people in pain Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
At the hospital Peyo tells his trainer which room he wants to enter next by stopping or raising his leg. Peyo is 15 and seems able to detect when humans have cancers and tumours. He stayed nearly two hours here, watching over a dying woman. ‘I accompany him but I let him do what he wants, he’s the one who decides,’ says Bouchakour. ‘What really pushed scientists to take an interest in him and open the health establishment doors to us, was this [seeming] ability to greatly reduce [the patients’ dosage of] all hard drugs and thus allow a more peaceful departure,’ he says Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Hassen Bouchakour prepares Peyo for a new day at Calais Hospital. ‘Peyo’s nickname given by the medical team name is Doctor Peyo,’ says the trainer. For a long time the pair were known for taking part in equestrian shows. But Peyo was constantly looking for human contact. After shows, he would pick out people in the crowd, approach them and choose to stay next to them. Bouchakour began to suspect Peyo was choosing people who were weakened morally, physically or psychologically. After four years of investigation, veterinary specialists believe Peyo’s brain functions in a unique way Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
In Calais Hospital, Marion pats Peyo while the medical team help her with her pain relief for metastatic cancer. Peyo and Bouchakour are her allies, she says, and they come to see her almost every day. ‘Hassen and Peyo are part of the team, they are not only good for the patients but for us too. When it is hard, we are happy to know they are here,’ says Anne Sophie, a nurse at the palliative care centre Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Outside in the car park of Calais Hospital, it is the end of the working day for Hassen Bouchakour and ‘Doctor Peyo’. ‘Since 2016, we have supported around 1,000 people until their last breath in the various services in which we operate. Peyo is my other half, he is my life partner, he is everything to me,’ says Bouchakour Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Isaac, nine, is proud to show off his new friend, Peyo, to his mother who is just coming out of surgery. ‘Isaac has associated the hospital with Peyo. Today, if he is happy to come to the hospital to see his mother, it is thanks to this horse,’ says his father, Thomas Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Peyo licks the hands of 64-year-old Roger who has just returned for the day to the palliative care unit for a blood transfusion. Roger is happy to see his ‘favourite doctor’ again. ‘Tonight he’s going to sleep well [because] he saw Peyo. As soon as he sees him he sleeps like a baby,’ says his wife Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
In the parking garage at Calais Hospital, Peyo and Bouchakour accompany Roger to the ambulance that will take him home after his treatment. Specialists are still trying to find out more about Peyo’s apparently instinctive ability to comfort those who are sick Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Peyo guards the door of a patient while Bouchakour talks to the medical team. ‘Hassen and Peyo don’t only provide comfort to patients but to us, too. In tough situations we are very happy to see them around,’ says said Nathalie, a nurse at palliative care centre Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Bouchakour is always very careful with hygiene and Peyo is washed and disinfected before and after hospital visits. It takes two hours to get the horse ready. ‘When I clean him with disinfectant wipes it is to protect him,’ says Bouchakour. ‘Luckily, he likes it.’ Peyo has learned to indicate when he needs to go outside by moving his body from right to left. • This caption was amended on 15 March 2021 to remove a quote which incorrectly indicated that no transmissible disease is passed from horses to humans. Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Peyo and Hassen visit their friend Robert, a former horse rider who has terminal cancer and who is receiving pain relief in hospital Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
The legs of Peyo, Bouchakour and Robert, the patient they are visiting. ‘I am to some extent this horse’s collateral damage, I didn’t ask for this. It took me a while to accept it. It put an end to my successful career as a sportsman, and as a showman. It was very complicated to no longer be the master, and to be forced to admit that when [Peyo] detects someone [is sick], I am no longer in control. When he decides, I cannot hold him back, it’s a need, it’s visceral, it is in him, he needs to go and cling onto the specific person he has chosen,’ says Bouchakour Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Peyo stands guard at the door of Robert’s room. Scientists and doctors are still puzzled by some of the horse’s behaviour, such as here when he adopts a menacing pose to bar anyone from entering the room Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Peyo is happy to see his old friend, Daniel, 67, a former equestrian, who has terminal cancer. ‘At home, as soon as we speak to Dad about Peyo, he cries, he has stars in his eyes,’ says his son Gerald Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Daniel died in January. At the request of the family, Bouchakour and Peyo accompanied his coffin at the funeral Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
Bouchakour and Peyo enjoy time off on the beach in Calais, after a hard day at the hospital. ‘In the past, people died at home. Today, it is so hard because people are often dying in isolation and we see death as a drama,’ says Bouchakour. ‘It is a unique experience to look after a person who is facing death, to stay with them and tell them: “Don’t worry, you can go in peace, you won’t be forgotten”.’ Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
