Laura Hilliard arrived at the parking lot at Sepiessa Point Reservation in West Tisbury on the day after Thanksgiving ready for a walk to decompress from her shift as a nurse in the acute care unit at Martha’s Vineyard Hospital.
“Nursing is a stressful job and one of the ways I manage self-care is to go out and walk,” Laura said.
The parking lot at Sepiessa was empty of cars that day, but she was not alone.
“When I got out of the car, there was an adorable little dog next to me with a harness on and a leash kind of trailing behind it – obviously lost,” Laura recalled. She waited for a few minutes, but when no one showed she started walking with the dog. “I was nervous I wasn’t going to find the owner.”
David Fialkow, a venture capitalist, Academy Award-winning filmmaker and long-time Vineyard resident, was at Sepiessa that day with his son-in-law, Streeter Phillips of West Tisbury, and his friend, Michael Bronner of Edgartown. They were at the pond when they discovered Ace, who also enjoys a swim, was no longer with them. David was a little panicked because he knew just how important the lovable terrier is to him and his wife, Nina.
“In all of our zeal, we forgot that running behind us was Ace. We went swimming, were laughing, and having a good time and realized we forgot Ace. Fortunately, as a father, I have never forgotten one of my kids but now I’ve forgotten my dog,” David said, able to laugh about the ordeal now. “We had to find Ace. He’s the most important part of our family. He’s our mascot. He’s our joy. He’s a really cool dog.”
About 15 minutes into her walk, Laura came upon David and the group. “Walking down a dirt road was Laura. She had Ace on his leash and it was like a mirage here on this beautiful, sunny day. There is Ace running on a leash, and it was a joyful moment,” David said.
Laura recalled the reunion. “They clearly recognized the dog and were relieved to see him. David was wonderful. He introduced himself, introduced his friends, and then started making a joke: ‘You saved my life, you saved my life.’ He was saying that his wife would kill him if he had lost the dog.”
“I’m used to saving lives at work,” Laura told him. “I’m not used to saving lives on the trail.”
Everyone laughed and David began walking toward the pond again with Ace in tow.
Laura let them get ahead and continued her hike. She caught up to them again at the pond and David resumed his conversation about her work at the hospital. He asked her about her favorite place at the hospital and asked her to videotape him as he jumped into the water. When he came out of the water, he announced he wanted to make a donation to acute care on Laura’s behalf.
Laura was surprised. She was just doing what any dog lover would do – trying to reunite a lost pup with its owner.
Being a friend to Martha’s Vineyard Hospital is nothing new for David. During the onset of the pandemic, he worked with Island resident Travis Larsen to install iPads in all of the emergency rooms so that doctors could monitor patients without having to constantly change hazmat suits. He also worked with his friend, the owner of Bauer hockey equipment, to get 10,000 plastic shields manufactured to keep doctors and nurses safe from COVID. Most recently, he made a leadership pledge for our Housing for Healthcare campaign in Edgartown.
“You keep telling me I saved your life – I just found your dog – you’ve really made a huge impact on our hospital and the health of the employees,” Laura said learning that David was responsible for the shields.
Laura is working with her colleagues to come up with something meaningful and team building for the department. They’ve settled on jackets that will feature the hospital logo, the employee’s name, and she hopes an outline of a terrier dog – an Ace on their sleeve. She said not only will acute care nurses be included, but the unit coordinator, patient coordinator, therapists, and housekeeping staff because of all they do to assist with acute care.
David said Laura’s good deed gave him another opportunity to show how much appreciates MVH and the Vineyard. “The real thing that drove all this was just another reason for me to celebrate this Island, its people, its hospital, its healthcare workers, and the commitment they make to make the Vineyard a great place.”
