Dog farewells dying owner in touching viral video

  • 10/12/2016
Michelle Jessen / Facebook
Michelle Jessen / Facebook

A touching moment between a dog and its owner has gone viral after it was posted on Facebook.

Last month, Ryan Jessen was admitted to hospital after what he thought was a headache turned out to be a fatal brain haemorrhage.

As his loved ones surrounded him for his final goodbyes, hospital staff allowed Mr Jessen to also farewell his beloved dog, Mollie.

The video, shot by Mr Jessen's sister, Michelle, has since had more than 118,000 shares online, and more than 15 million views.

In a tribute posted on Facebook, Michelle says the hospital did "the sweetest thing" for her family in allowing Mollie to farewell her owner.

"If you knew my brother, he really loved his sweet dog," she wrote.

In the video, Mollie's distress upon seeing her dying owner is clear - her tail is between her legs, her ears are down and she can be seen frantically sniffing at Mr Jessen on his hospital bed.

Michelle says she was flooded with support after the video went viral, and says lots of people asked how Mollie was after losing her closest friend.

"Don't worry about the dog! We're keeping her - she's part of the family."

Newshub.