Bird That Brightened Patient’s Life Is Stolen

A love of Barry Schmit’s life was stolen this week from a tree.

Apache, a Harlequin macaw, was perched outside the City of Hope Hospital in Duarte when a thief threw a blanket over the bird and fled in a truck.

Since November, Schmit, 43, of Claremont has been bringing Apache to the hospital to visit his wife, Janet Mahoney, who is undergoing chemotherapy for lung cancer. The bird, he said, cheered her and other patients.

Apache “talks to the patients and makes them feel really good,” Schmit said. “So many people told me how much it brightens up their day.”

The bird was in its usual spot outside Mahoney’s window Monday when Schmit went to get her some milk. When he returned a few minutes later, Apache was gone.

He ran outside and talked to several people who had seen a man take the bird, he said.

“I was empty inside. I ran around without any idea of what I was doing and asking anybody if they might have seen him,” Schmit said.

He got the bird six months ago from an animal rescue group in Maryland.

“Because he was such an abused bird, he had an aggressive demeanor,” Schmit said. “But since the two of us got together, he cuddles like a cat. He’s just so loving. There was a change in his character.

“I’m desperate to get him back. I’m scared to death someone’s going to hurt him.”

The 5-year-old bird has a bright orange body, blue and green wings, a blue mane with bright white cheeks and black freckles, Schmit said.

Sgt. David Austin of the Temple sheriff’s station said authorities “need to have someone come forward, such as someone working or visiting there that’s seen the truck before, because we don’t have a full license plate. . . . I’m hoping it may be associated to a patient or employee from the hospital.”