If you have a beloved pet home, grab your tissues and hold on. This is going to be quite emotional. Dogs are extremely special creatures. Not only do they give us love and affection, laughs, and comfort, some of the are known for having pretty important jobs. When the men and women of our armed forces come home from battle, some have PTSD or post-traumatic stress disorder. In order to cope with the trauma that they have suffered, many of them get service dogs. Service dogs can save the lives of the humans they love, but sometimes, they’re the ones needing the saving.David’s anxiety attacks and nightmares had gotten so bad that he knew he needed to get a service animal to help him through his recovery. But it would be another two years before his best friend would appear in his life.
He trained him to be a devoted service animal. That’s when David said everything in his life changed. It wasn’t long before David’s friends began to see a difference.
They even began calling the pup Dr. Indiana Bones! Bones was definitely a blessing for David. David and Bones began going on many adventures together.
They also began going on long road trips together, like to the Whitewater Preserve in California. The pair also spent many hours visiting the 200 historic film locations all over California. Unfortunately, things wouldn’t always be smooth sailing for the best friends.
On June 2, 2017, David received some heartbreaking news. News that would change his life forever. David had a lot of decisions to make.
Osteosarcoma is a type of bone cancer that could be fatal for Bones. In order to save his life, Bones would need to have his leg amputated. Unfortunately, David wasn’t able to pay for the expensive surgery.
If he wanted to save Bones’ life he would need to act fast, but what options did he have? The procedure was so expensive. David began researching everything he could try to find a possible solution.
After doing some research, David found out that the surgery would be a lot less expensive if he did it in his hometown of Philadelphia. After speaking to David about what was going on, his friends set up a GoFundMe in Bones’ name. Bones and David had a long journey ahead of them.
But at least they would have one last epic adventure. “I was fairly positive this was just gonna be the last road trip we were gonna have. I had to make it really awesome,” said David. He packed everything that they needed and the best friends hit the road for their cross-country adventure.
They visited the Arches National Park in Utah. The drove through the Rocky Mountains. They even stopped at the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, Missouri. They were having the time of their lives!
Finally, they made it to Philadelphia. While they were traveling, David’s community compiled their money together, and raised enough money for Bones’ surgery! “By the time that I had gotten home, [the GoFundMe page] had reached its original goal,” said David.
Thanks to the people in his community, David was able to pay for Bones’ expensive surgery and make a full recovery. This also meant they were able to continue on their fun adventures. David was filled with gratitude for the people who helped make this happen.
“It doesn’t really cost much to make somebody happy. It costs a lot to make somebody angry or upset, you know what I mean? It costs way more to be stressful and angry than it does to just be happy,” he said. This just goes to show how strong the power of kindness truly is!
