For Army veteran Erick Scott, adapting to civilian life after his service was incredibly hard. His experiences in the military left him bruised and battered, both mentally and physically.
To make matters worse, his soul was consumed by an intense amount of survivor’s guilt after losing many of his comrades in battle.
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Erick was diagnosed with PTSD soon after, but the cocktail of medications didn’t help him much. He would wake up from his traumatizing nightmares in the middle of the night, the bed wet in a pool of sweat.
When things hit rock bottom for Erick, he reached out to “K9s for Warriors” in hopes of finding himself a medical service dog.
That’s how Erick met a black Labrador named Gumbo, who was fully trained to assist severe PTSD cases. With his calming empathy and PTSD support skills, Gumbo turned Erick’s life around, and it’s something that’s captured in this video superbly!
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In this video, we see Erick sitting down with an interviewer to recount his draining experiences. Gumbo obeys Erick’s “sit” command and positions himself right beside him, completely glued to the grass.
But mid-interview, Eric repressed emotional wounds surface as he heads toward another panic attack, and that’s when Gumbo rises up to do his job.
It’s magical to see Gumbo caressing Erick exactly at the moment he needs it! The pooch keeps Erik’s anxiety in check with his well-timed distracting gestures and helps Erick hit the reset button and resume the interview!
Source: USA TODAY/YouTube
Gumbo detects Erick’s PTSD triggers even before Erik himself knows it, and keeping Erik sane and functioning is always Gumbo’s top priority.
As per the video below, “Veterans Administration” says a veteran commits suicide every 65 minutes. Service dogs like Gumbo make all the difference between life and death by preventing these tortured veterans from falling apart.
Click the video below to watch Gumbo detecting and addressing Erick’s PTSD triggers at a crucial point.
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