BBC North West Tonight - Emotionally powerful stories

When BBC North West Tonight was first alerted to a story at Wigan Hospital, we realised it was the kind of emotionally powerful story which would appeal to our audience. But we could not have imagined the impact the coverage would have across social media and specifically on the NWT Facebook page.

The story is that of Sheila Marsh and her horse Bronwen. Sheila was a cancer patient at the hospital and her dying wish to be reunited with her favourite horse Bronwen. Hospital staff liaised with her family to arrange it in the hospital grounds just hours before she passed away.

We posted the story first on Facebook. Within minutes, it was clear it resonated with our audience. In part, that online interest then influenced our more traditional news gathering - as we fixed a TV interview with Sheila's daughter. The BBC News Online story followed soon after the Facebook post - and a link was added. But it was the phenomenal Facebook reaction which has stunned many people. With a current reach of 43.5 million the story has become the second most viewed BBC Facebook post.

The power of social media and specifically Facebook on this occasion has been incredible - within an hour it passed a million. We watched that figure rise in the studio while live on BBC One - during North West Tonight the post reached a further 500k.

We only post a few stories each day on Facebook and try not to overwhelm people’s timelines, however this story is typical of the type of story we know attracts our audience. But it has post and has exceeded all our expectations - our previous highest reach at BBC North West Tonight on Facebook was 4.4 million for Betty, the 104-year-old Girl Guide.

So why did this story appeal so much? Well to start with, it was an incredibly moving story which was really helped by a picture that told the story almost without the need for any words. I also think including a quote from one of the nurses really helped: the words were powerful and credible coming from her. Had I written them into the report, it may have seemed like a journalist being sentimental for effect. Everyone in our audience can relate to the death of a loved one or the love we have for animals. Sheila, had six horses, three dogs, three cats and other animals but her last wish was to see Bronwen – the horse she had looked after for 25 years from when it was a foal.

The hospital said that Sheila, unable to speak properly due to illness, "gently called" her favourite horse, who then "nuzzled her cheek" as they said their last goodbyes. They say pictures speak a thousand words, so the NWT evening bulletin simply captured those moments in a series of pictures.

Roger Johnson is a Presenter for BBC North West Tonight

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