One Encounter Made All the Difference for this Vet
A book review of ‘What It Takes to Save a Life’ by Kwane Stewart
Intro
‘What It Takes to Save a Life’ by Kwane Stewart is about a veterinarian who is struggling to find the good in his life when a chance encounter with a man and his dog outside of a 7-Eleven changes everything. Going from a shelter veterinarian, tasked with determining who lives and who dies everyday, to the Street Vet known around the houseless community in LA, Kwane witnesses first-hand the enduring bond between animal and man and the lengths that owners will go to make sure their pet knows no pain, hunger or sadness. His time with the houseless community and their pets began with a man named Kyle outside a 7-Eleven and has blossomed into a tv show (‘Street Vet’), a nonprofit, and countless friendships.
This book is a memoir interspersed with the stories of those he helps, delving into their backgrounds before they end up on the street. It creates a three-dimensional juxtaposition between the homelessness problem, the day-to-day life of a vet, and his personal life as it unfolds with his continued community work.
Kyle, Mutt, and Kwane
One day on his way to the shelter, Kwane stopped at a 7-Eleven for some coffee. While there, he noticed Kyle and Mutt, his dog, sitting outside of the convenience store. At first, he ignored them, stating, “I didn’t lock eyes with the owner or ask any questions. My plate was full, and it was easier to do nothing,” but something about them wouldn’t leave his mind, “I kept thinking about this guy, though, and wondering what his story was.” After returning to help Kyle’s dog, Mutt, with his skin issue, Kwane continued to check on them, forming a habit.
A few weeks later, Kwane noticed his habitat morphed into something more, where “I found myself pulling my car over whenever I saw a homeless person with a pet.” Eventually, he started stopping at places where he thought the houseless would be, abandoned parking lots, underpasses, and canal banks, and started handing out advice and medication. He found this process to be therapeutic because it was a juxtaposition to his role in the shelter, where he was more of a grim reaper, but now, in his own words, “I got to see myself as a healer again, and it did wonders for my soul. In working with the homeless population, I felt like I was coming back to life.”
As Kwane continues to entertain the reader with stories of the people he meets, he also takes a moment to reflect on his time in vet school and the inherent burnout in the animal welfare community. I found this pause of reflection to be important because Kwane highlights the lack of diversity in the veterinary field by noting that when he enrolled in vet school (Colorado State Veterinary School), he was one of two black students in a class of 126.
I found this jarring, but not surprising because I have a friend who is currently in vet school and is one of the few brown people among a sea of white. Personally, I wonder why there isn’t more diversity in this field; According to a Time magazine article, “of the more than 104,000 veterinarians in the nation, nearly 90% are white, less than 2% are Hispanic and almost none are black.” In fact, “in 2013, the profession was dubbed the whitest in America,” and, not only that, but the field is rife with mental health issues, which Kwane takes a moment to reflect on, noting that “1 in 6 veterinary professionals consider suicide at some point in their career, which is higher than other professions.”
Luckily, as mental health is taken more seriously, vet schools and vet tech schools are now incorporating how to combat burnout and compassion fatigue into their curriculum. There is even a nonprofit called Not One More Vet, which “aims to bring some of the financial and mental health challenges of vet care to the surface,” as Kwane explains. He goes on to the talk about the difference between burnout and compassion fatigue and how “experiencing either, and not doing something about it, is really detrimental to mental health.” Overall, I found the time that Kwane spent on discussing the lack of diversity in his field and the mental health toll on caregivers to be eye-opening and a necessary discussion point.
The LA Community of Skid Row
Although Kwane takes a moment to reflect on other aspects of being a vet, and how his personal life may suffer as a result, this book is mainly about the houseless community and their pets. He puts a spotlight on this issue and doesn’t deviate. In fact, Kwane takes a minute to reflect on how his view of the houseless community changed after his interaction with Kyle and Mutt. Kwane explains, “I had long thought that to end up living on the street, you had to have really messed up somewhere in life…. I chalked people’s predicament up to some bad luck and some weaknesses in character.” However, as he continued to contact the houseless community, he received a re-education about homelessness in America.
Kwane worked around the LA area, but the population he mostly served called Skid Row home. A note about Skid Row, it is considered an epicenter to Los Angeles’ runaway homelessness crisis and takes up a 53-block area east of downtown. Recently, in January 2023, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency on homelessness. A central feature of their plan to address this issue is by targeting and eliminating tent encampments. The people Kwane met on Skid Row are not the invisible community that you hear about in the news or on tv. Kwane highlights that they are concerned pet owners, individuals with aspirations, and are more than their circumstances.
Concluding Thoughts
I found this book to be a quick read, so I was able to finish it in a matter of hours, and what really helped me finish it so quickly was my desire to consume new stories about the people Kwane encountered on the streets. I was hungry to learn more because Kwane provided insight I could not get myself because I don’t do what he does, which is talk to people. By Kwane talking to the houseless community, he was acknowledging them, something that many of us do not do, and at the same time he was reassuring them that their problems and needs matter, that they shouldn’t be overlooked. This book really drove home the importance of connection when helping others, and what you can get out of donating your time and expertise compared to giving a monetary donation.
If you are interested in reading this book, I encourage you to check out your local library or local bookstore when it goes on sale on May 16th, 2023.
