By Theresa-Marie Wilson
Daniel Sievert was in a fitness club in Avila Beach when he first learned of the Boston Marathon bombings that ripped through the crowded sidelines of the race on April 15, 2013.
It was while watching Good Morning America that he saw a story about a group of people bringing golden retriever therapy dogs to visit with some of the bombing victims. Something told him he had to help.
“I really didn’t have a desire to get in the car and drive 3,400 miles, but when I was watching the story, I went from thinking in my rational mind, ‘Wow, that’s cool,’ to having a strong unction that I had to go,” he said. “By my faith, I really believe it was a God message. The message was go. I was sitting there basically rationalizing and arguing with God about all the reasons I couldn’t go.”
Sievert’s car wasn’t road worthy and his personal finances were just about at zero, but his golden retrievers, Jake, 9, and Emerson, 5, were healthy and happy. Although they are not certified trained therapy dogs, Sievert said the dogs have traits common to their breed.
“They give so much caring and comfort to their owners,” Sievert said. “They have an innate desire to please people. I have a spiritual angle to this. I find that when people use the words therapy dogs, sometimes that means for them and sometimes that means for outreach. The reason I use (the term) comfort dogs is based on a scripture in the Bible, 2 Corinthians 1: 3-7, that talks about the God of all comfort who comforts us in our afflictions and sufferings so that later when we are healthy we can go and comfort others.”
Eight days and 3,400 miles later, Sievert and his two four-legged companions arrived by car in Boston.
“At that moment, I saw what we were supposed to be doing,” he said. “It wasn’t going to the hospital, which is what I thought. Our mission was to be on the street and encounter people that were the other victims, not the direct victims of the marathon. It was the ones who had seen it and were still traumatized by the fact that it happened.”
Since Boston, Sievert and the dogs have been on more than 20 missions visiting fire, tornado, flood, school shootings, crash and accident sites across the country. The most recent was in Santa Maria at a memorial for Breanna Rodriguez, a high school student who died in a car crash on Jan. 30.
“When the news comes out, I pray about it and weigh it out. I like to say I make all the decisions, but I don’t think I do,” Sievert said. “It is where I feel a really strong unction that we can do some good in certain situations. I will drive several thousand miles if I feel we can make an impact on one or two people. That decision isn’t just dollars and cents, because sometimes I have driven on such little money, I’m not sure I am going to make it.”
Sievert uses his social security checks and donations from the public to pay for his trips.
“It is miraculous doors opening, whether that is donations or hotels reaching out,” he said.
Sievert said that an incident from his past played a big part in how he relates to people who have experienced a tragedy. He was electrocuted and burned about 40 years ago when he was training as an EMT in San Diego. At the time, he was a bit of an extreme fitness daredevil and while waiting to go out on call decided to climb a high-voltage pole and watch the sunset.
“It was a poor choice,” he said. “It was a good climb, but on the decent there was a distraction, and I found myself seconds later being blown through with 12,000 volts of electricity three times. It was a pretty traumatic situation, pretty intense and pretty bleak. It was a long rescue and a long arduous hospitalization. I came through it. I’m not the same as I was before, but I am still here to tell that story.”
Sievert said that although he can’t say that he was dead, he did have what felt like a “coming back to” experience while still atop the pole. A year and a half and 17 surgeries later, the doctors said he was “good to go.”
During his missions, Sievert said his intent is to offer hope to people.
“I say very few words, but my words are usually based on the fact that there is hope ahead. I don’t give it a biblical description; it is more that hope is looking forward to a promising future, which is more of a Western definition. When I talk to people who are in a hospital bed or are suffering the loss of a loved one or lost a house in a tornado, I can usually tell them based on my own experiences about needed hope.”
The dogs do their part without saying a word.
“Every time we go somewhere, these dogs will find the one or two people who need them the most,” Sievert said. “The biggest thing they provide is trust. A lot of people who are hurting initially don’t want to open up and tell a stranger their problems. What they want is a quiet presence of someone. A lot of us humans don’t know how to do that, but the dogs will just stand by and give them five or 10 minutes of just quietness. They provide an attitude of we are here for you, and we will stay with you for as long as you need us.”
Currently, Sievert is planning to leave the Central Coast and move to Colorado to be in a more centrally located area of the country.
“I can save a lot of miles,” Sievert said. “I’ve gone more than 50,000 intense miles going to missions. I’ve gone through five rental cars.”
Why does he do it?
“The reward is seeing people’s lives touched in a way that inspires hope,” Sievert said. “They know that they are going to move forward from whatever tragedy or disaster they have gone through. When we drive away, and the people say, ‘Thank you,’ it’s kind of hushed because there aren’t any more words because they can hardly speak. That’s when I know we have done something. That is a reward.”
For more information, visit Golden Missions of America on Facebook.
