Hermione’s Hamster House

Sometimes a chance meeting of colleagues can lead to a life-altering event. Such was the case with Alex Hernly (Ethics & Compliance), Matt Sheley (Vascular division), a boy named Hayden, and a hamster named Hermione.

It all started when Matt’s 11-year-old son, Hayden, finally convinced his parents to allow him to get a pet. Dogs and cats were not an option, so Hayden chose a hamster from a local pet store. Because he loved anything connected to Harry Potter, Hayden named his hamster “Hermione.” It was love at first sight for Hayden. Hermione quickly became a part of the family and even Hayden’s school life. In fact, Hermione participated in one of Hayden’s science projects that involved creating a maze for the hamster to find her way through.

All was fine until one evening a few months ago when Hayden noticed that something had gone wrong with one of Hermione’s eyes. It was enlarged and protruding from the eye socket. Matt winced just looking at it.

Hayden was very upset, Matt remembers. Matt’s wife went online to research eye conditions in hamsters and found that commercial eye drops might do the trick. Enlarged hamster eyes are apparently a thing. So, Matt went to the grocery store late that night to get the eye drops to help Hermione.

Unfortunately, the next morning, Hermione’s eye was no better. And worse yet, after making a call to a confused receptionist, Matt realized that the local vet might not have any idea how to treat a hamster. They would call him back later, Matt recalls. He didn’t have a lot of hope that the vet would know how to treat a hamster with a serious eye condition.

But Matt reassured Hayden that he would follow up with the vet to help Hermione. As he drove to work, Matt was musing over the situation and feared that he might need to start thinking about a funeral service for little Hermione.

Then he remembered Alex.

A meeting at Cook orientation leads to a solution

Alex Hernly joined Cook the very same day that Matt had and was part of his orientation group. All of the new employees had told something unusual about themselves, and Alex mentioned that she and her husband ran a hamster rescue, The Pipsqueakery. Matt sent her an email when he arrived at work and asked her advice on what to do about his son’s ailing hamster.

Her reply came back promptly. “It might be an infection, glaucoma, or an injury that needs an enucleation. Got any pictures? The best vet for any of that is Avian and Exotic Animal Clinic in Indianapolis, but if you can’t get into the vet before this weekend, would you like to bring it by for me to examine? If it’s just an infection, we might be able to give you what is needed to get her healed up.”

Matt breathed a sigh of relief. He didn’t need to tell Hayden that it was all over just yet.

And so that evening at just a few minutes past 9 pm, Matt, Hayden, and Hermione arrived at Alex’s house. They were met by Alex and her husband, Jason Minsterketter, who whisked Hermione away and began examining her closely.

“It was like watching a pit crew take over,” Matt remembers. Alex and Jason quickly diagnosed the problem—Hermione was losing her eye. They might be able to save it, but they were not certain it could be done. And to make matters worse, it turned out Hermione was pretty elderly for a hamster…about two years old.

“That’s about as long as hamsters live,” Alex says. “A lot of people don’t realize they are already six months old or older by the time they get to a pet store.”

Alex offered to keep Hermione for a few days to nurse her back to health. Within minutes, Matt says, Alex and Jason had created a “posh little apartment” for the ailing hamster. Matt and Hayden returned to take her home a week later. Matt had warned Hayden about Hermione’s advanced age and the fact that she might not have long to live. Alex let them take Hermione home in the comfy cage she had been recovering in.

The “Hamster House” comes home

When Matt, Hayden, and Hermione returned home, the new cage went into Hayden’s room.  Hayden made a sign for his hamster’s new living space: “The Hamster House, in honor of Alex and Jason.” Hermione seemed fine and life went back to normal for the Sheley family.

However, one night a few weeks after returning home, Hermione began showing signs of lethargy. Hayden was worried, but he continued to monitor her and made sure she was comfortable. Two days later, she died. The family buried her in a butter dish with a river rock to mark the spot.

Matt credits Alex and her husband, Jason, for making this a positive learning event. “Going from being very upset, this was a most wonderful experience for an 11-year-old kid,” Matt says.

Shortly after Hermione died, a text message appeared on Alex’s phone: This is from Hayden: Alex thank you for helping Hermione. Sadly she died an hour ago. Thank you for helping though.

Alex replied: I’m so sorry for your loss Hayden.  Hermione was a very special hamster.

Hayden now says he wants to raise money for the hamster rescue and is very excited about possibly volunteering when he is older. Matt also was surprised and gratified at how much Hayden cared about his hamster.

“I think Alex and Jason did a really amazing job of managing expectations,” Matt adds. “They also knew just what to say to Hayden and treated him as an equal.”

A profile of Alex Hernly and her hamster rescue, The Pipsqueakery, appeared earlier this year in Angiogram. You can read more about the hamster rescue here.