Patti Ansuini says photo of horse saved her life after she was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer
Published in the Jan. 22, 2014 issue of Morgan Hill Life
By Robert Airoldi
Photo by Lori McIntosh
Patti Ansuini and Kitty Silverwings at her Rocking A Ranch in Gilroy.
They saved each other. The Appaloosa born without the use of one leg and the woman diagnosed with throat cancer built a bond some might call miraculous.
The horse Kitty Silverwings came into the Morgan Hill world on a rainy March day in 1993 suffering from multiple birth defects. The worst was a severed radial nerve in her right front leg. She also lacked muscle tissue in her right shoulder and forearm. She had contracted tendons in the right foot. With the filly only able to use three legs, veterinarians said she would die within the week. They suggested euthanasia.
But something in the horse’s eyes said death was not an option, recalls Patti Ansuini, Kitty’s owner. “I saw the hope of life,” Ansuini said after staring lovingly into Kitty’s eyes. “As long as she wasn’t going to give up, neither was I. I knew she would survive.”
Thus began their story of hope, belief, survival and miracles.
Patti’s husband Pat with Kitty as a filly and recovering from her birth defects.
Photo courtesy Patti Ansuini
Vets gave the filly six weeks to show significant improvement. Ansuini spent every night in the barn stall, every two hours helping the horse stand so she could nurse her. That routine went on for a week. Then Kitty developed abscesses at the elbow and shoulder. Unable to handle the difficult conditions on her own, Ansuini called in her veterinarian, who removed the tissue at the elbow and wrapped it in bandages. They decided to leave the shoulder alone. But the vet shook his head, contemplating all the filly’s ills. He explained that foals are born with little to no immune system. He feared a lethal infection was a distinct possibility.
After a week, they removed the bandage to find a clean wound. The abscess on the horse’s shoulder had healed on its own.For the next month, Ansuini spent each night in the barn with Kitty, helping her nurse. The filly started to ever-so-slightly pick up her shoulder and use the face of her ankle to walk on.
Ansuini and Kitty at the unveiling of the street name. The Appaloosa was born with multiple defects, but miraculously survived and went on to win numerous awards in horse shows. She told her vet, “I don’t believe in miracles, I rely on them.” Photo courtesy Patti Asuini
To look at her head on, her sternum was twisted dramatically to the left side of her body and her right elbow had dropped down to almost as low as her left knee, Ansuini said. “But she would try for all she was worth to use her feeble leg,” she said. “With each attempt her goal seemed to be able to stand a little more upright.” But she still couldn’t walk or pivot.
At about four weeks, Kitty was able to push the bad leg forward by two or three inches and rest the tip of her toe on the ground, but the vets, who marveled at her tenacity, still felt that because the muscle had yet to develop over the shoulder, it would be impossible to expect the tissue to regenerate. At best, they said, she would have limited usage possibilities and perhaps, over time, she might gain enough strength to be used as a broodmare, a female horse used for breeding.
As the six week deadline approached, Ansuini feared the worse. Despite her assurances, the vets just weren’t seeing enough progress.
That night Asuini slept in the house. When she awoke at dawn she approached the barn. There, she saw Kitty standing in the outside paddock doorway on all four feet. Very slowly the filly pivoted her entire body so she directly faced Ansuini. Then, in a purposeful slow, halting walk, she crossed the paddock toward Ansuini.
“I became a witness to the very miracle I had prayed for,” she said. “I was overjoyed.”
As time went by, Kitty did regenerate the missing muscle tissue. At the age of three, she was entered into her first horse show. Her very first performance produced a first-place win. From 1996 to 1998, Kitty earned eight California State championship titles in both the western and English divisions of the Appaloosa breed. She also earned California State championship titles in the open all-breed shows where she competed against all breeds.
Kitty Silverwings at the Ansuini’s ranch in Gilroy.
Photo by Lori McIntosh
In 1998, Kitty qualified for and was exhibited at the ApHC World Show. She came home with a top 10 world title. Upon hearing the miraculous story of the equine resident, the city of Morgan Hill named a street Silverwings Court after her in a new housing development.
The next miracle occurred in 2006 when Ansuini was diagnosed with stage 4 throat cancer. It had metastasized throughout her lymph system. She spent three months in the hospital, enduring radical throat surgery, gut-wrenching chemotherapy and seven weeks of intensive radiation therapy. She contracted peritonitis, fevers and blood clots. Doctors gave her a 5 percent chance of survival.
Convinced she was slowly slipping away, her husband Pat strategically taped a photo of Kitty and Patti to the panel at the foot of her bed. Every time she opened her eyes, she would see Kitty’s face. The horse helped her to heal, she believes.
When Ansuini came home from the hospital, she was taken to the barn and there she and Kitty were reunited.
“In that instant, I came to understand that Kitty had been with me every moment of my three-month ordeal,” she said. “She had returned the priceless love of the three months I had spent with her.”
