War veterans served the country by putting everything at stake, including their own lives. Sadly, most of them retired, if not missing an arm or a leg, were missing a part of themselves. Going back to the Vietnam war, 15% of the veterans were diagnosed with PTSD or Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder – a mental health disorder that can be acquired from a traumatic experience.
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, a lot of ways can be done to help someone with PTSD like consulting a psychologist or psychiatrist for professional mental health care. One can also try doing positive activities such as sports. Another way to battle PTSD is by surrounding yourself with a support group which you can also get by acquiring the help of a service dog.
A tough battle.
Veteran Sgt. Bill Campbell who’s fighting PTSD chose the help of a service dog, a yellow Labrador named Pax. Unfortunately, the war veteran also suffers from memory loss and fear of crowds.
According to Campbell, his reliable service dog was always there for him, especially when he was having episodes of PTSD. He couldn’t imagine life without Pax, that’s also the reason why he became really eager to meet the person who trained it to become such an effective service dog.
He soon reached out to Pax’s trainer who turned out to be a woman named Laurie Kellog. He also learned that Pax was taken care of by female inmates at Bedford Hills Correctional Facility. Soon, the veteran, together with Pax, traveled just to extend his thanks and gratitude to Kellog.
Domino effect.
Turns out, Pax’s trainer also suffered from PTSD because of domestic violence. Kellog shared that Pax saved her when she had PTSD attacks during the service dog’s training period. She said that the yellow Lab’s presence gave her peace of mind and made her feel safe.
That’s why she was so happy after discovering that Pax would be assisting an honorable soldier who’s also suffering from PTSD.
Retired Sgt. Campbell arrived at the correctional facility and Pax quickly sprinted to Kellog as soon as he saw her. It was pretty obvious that the dog was ecstatic to be reunited with his former trainer. The dog was jumping uncontrollably while it was showering Laurie with lots of kisses, his tail was also wagging nonstop.
The veteran was moved by the touching reunion, he too, greeted Laurie with a warm hug, both of them were emotional simply because they knew how it feels like to have PTSD. The three savored the beautiful moment together and enjoyed every second of that day.
In fact, even the people who saw the video of this beautiful story online were moved. One of them wrote a heartfelt message in the comment section, “If you don’t shed a tear watching this video then I feel for you. But I did and the reunion of the service dogs with their trainers is so heartwarming I can’t help but thank God for the gift of our best friends. What a wonderful story for this one dog and the many others that help our military men and women that suffered so much and need the help of these wonderful animals, and their trainers.”
Dogs are truly wonderful creatures and it’s amazing how they can positively change someone’s life.
Watch the tear-dropping reunion in the video below.
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