In May 2016, KHOU.com producer Doug Delony went jogging through Discovery Green park in Houston. Something there grabbed his attention, so he snapped a photo. He had no clue the image would go viral and touch the hearts of millions of strangers across the world.
Doug’s picture showed a man kneeling over an elderly dog. There was a baby stroller by his side… but no baby. The man had no idea he was being photographed.
Doug shared the image on Facebook, writing:
“Most afternoons, I take a run through Discovery Green, and most afternoons I see this guy with a stroller but no baby. He brings this beautiful… what appears to be… disabled pup to the park. He lets it sit in the grass and take in the smell and the sound. Here he is giving it water out of a small cup he brings with him.”
Readers wanted to know more about the dog, so Doug did some investigating. The dog’s name is Maximilian, aka Max, and he was 16 years old at the time. He’d been with his mom Edie ever since he was a puppy.
Max was blind in one eye and had severe arthritis, but his family couldn’t have loved him any more. Every day, Edie and her husband Troy put Max in his baby stroller, walked to the park, and watched their old friend “come alive.”
“I don’t think you should just turn your back on someone just because they’re elderly,” Edie told KHOU. “I think they deserve our love and our care and our attention. And there is so much we can learn from them even as they get older.”
Max passed away in June 2017, but not before leaving an incredible legacy behind.
Please SHARE Max’s amazing story with your friends on Facebook, and help us remember this awesome dog.
Footage provided by KHOU Houston
