Endal - Allen & Sandra Parton
IBSN: 9780007303007
page: 308
Allen Parton suffered a serious head injury while serving in the gulf war and returned home unable to walk, talk or remember most of his life. He couldn't even remember his wife, Sandra, and their two children. After five years of rehabilitation, he was still severly disabled.
Sandra was a nurse so thought she would be able to help her husband, but the Allen who had returned didn't remember her, and couln't cope with what life had dealt him. Determined to be strong, Sandra would have to fight to keep her family together.
Endal was a Labrador puppy with problems of his own until he 'adopted' Allen and Sandra. He was to change their world, and give them back their family.
A very moving true story. It is about the ability of mans best friend, to be able to reach out and help people in ways that they cannot help themselves. It's about the therapeutic effects of having a dog.
Endal was trained by a group called Canine Partners, but was unable at first to finish his training due to joint problems, but from the moment he saw Allen and sensed his need to be brought back from the depths of depression and dispair, nobody could stop this loving animal from helping and reaching out to Allen.
Together Endal and Allen performed 'many tricks' in the interest of making life more accessible for Allen, and they often caught the attention of the media. The sort of things Endal did was help Allen use a cash machine by putting in the card and taking it out along with the cash and dropping it in his masters lap. He emptied the washing machine, opened cuboards, picked up things that dropped on the floor all to sign language commands that Allen invented for their personal communication.
Through this special relationship Endal managed to teach Allen some special things to. Such as how to love, how to be considerate and how to interact with people. These changes helped Allen and Sandra to fall in love a second time. But this time Allen remembered it.
Brilliant. I recommend people read this surprising story. 10/10