When Stuart Hutchison died from brain cancer, his loyal French bulldog Nero followed him just fifteen minutes later.

Stuart passed away on August 11 at the age of 25 after an eight year battle with cancer that he tried to fight with various chemotherapy and radiation treatments. His health started to go very downhill back in January, when he learned that his cancer had spread to most of his brain and to his bones and pelvis.

After finding no success in treating the spread, Stuart decided to move into his mother’s house to enjoy his final weeks in a comfortable space with his mom as his full-time caregiver. His wife Danielle also moved in so that she could be near her husband in his final days.

On the day Stuart died, Danielle’s father went to the home Danielle and him shared to pick up glasses for Danielle, allowing her more time to stay by her husband’s side. When he got there, he noticed that Nero appeared to be sick and decided to rush the dog to the emergency vet. There, it was discovered that Nero had a rupture on his spine, and the dog died not long after arriving at the animal hospital and just minutes after his owner passed away.

“Stuart died about 1:15 p.m. that day, and Nero died roughly 15 minutes later,” said Fiona Conaghan, Hutchison’s mother. “He had three dogs, but him and Nero were like one man and his dog. Nero was the dog which was always with him.”

She added that while losing Stuart was expected, it was still “a shock and traumatic” when it actually happened, and it was made even more tragic by Nero’s death.

“Danielle was heartbroken to have lost both of them, but she has been so strong,” Fiona said.