A young boy, Caleb, suffered from a horrific accident which resulted in a brain injury. The six-year-old had his ribs fractured, the consequence of the accident. Unfortunately, things seemed to take a bad turn when the doctors could not see any ray of hope. His test reports were distressful, and nobody had any hopes left.
As the parents and the doctor had lost their optimism and thought that nothing could revive their injured son, the doctor suggested therapy. The therapy, at first, did not seem like a viable option, and his parents came up to the conclusion that how could it benefit their son when the medical treatments have failed to work.
Don’t we all look for a ray of hope in the darkest times, a silver lining to every situation? The bereaved parents decided to give it a try and waited for a miracle that they thought would never happen. What were the doctors planning to do?
The therapy session began, and a dog named Colonel walked in. How could an animal sort the whole situation out? The dog was brought in, and the doctors made him lie down next to the injured Caleb. The golden retriever, Colonel, was a therapy dog trained by the Danes family, known to bring people back to life. His therapy had proved beneficial to a lot of patients earlier. Hence, the animal therapy gave some hope to the doctors.
At first, the parents seemed hopeless, as they were unaware of how an animal therapy could prove better than medical treatment. But they were ready to try it, as none of the available options seemed to be working. The therapy sessions began, and the parents, as well as the doctors, stood there with their fingers crossed. Would this therapy be of any benefit, or would the six-year-old Caleb live his entire life in a state of paralysis?
As soon as the dog lay down with Caleb, his brain activity resumed, and his body functions started to improve. It seemed like the dog had brought his life back. Although the procedure lasted a few hours, its impact lasted for a lifetime. The hospital’s environment was too depressing for the little boy. Colonel had brought some spark and joy into his life.
As soon as the first therapy session ended, the hospital staff could see evident improvement in his condition. During the next few sessions, Caleb began to uncurl his fingers and pet him as he lay down next to it. It seemed like the injured little boy wanted to move in order to play with Colonel.
The dog’s undeniable influence on Caleb made him feel better every day. Everybody was shocked and stunned, as nobody amongst us knows the importance and efficiency of animal therapy. We can only think of animals as some sort of creatures who can only bring joy into our lives, not as a part of some medicinal treatment.
His parents and doctors were as ecstatic as one could be, and nobody could imagine seeing the boy play and run ever again. His parents thought that the fateful night of the unfortunate accident took away their son forever. They thought that they would have to bear the emotional trauma of seeing their little boy bedridden for their whole life. After losing all hope, their child survived because of a simple therapy.
Did Colonel actually give him the boost he required to survive? Yes, the doctors agreed that the golden retriever was the only reason their son was back to life. There are a million times and moments in our lives that rob us of our hope, and even the most pessimistic people lose their hope. But then, something as simple as an animal can prove to be our savior.
