Caleb Howard, a six-year-old boy, suffered from a traumatic brain injury in 2007. This caused the Howard family’s lives to be forever changed.
The incident happened when Caleb was in the car with his family when a distracted driver driving on the opposite direction collided with their car.
Caleb’s mother and his two siblings were killed in the horrific accident. Caleb barely survived and required life support in intensive care. Apart from fracturing several bones in his body, Caleb also suffered from brain injury. The doctors warned Caleb’s family that even if Caleb survived, there was a chance that he might not be the same.
Despite not knowing what to expect, Caleb’s family remained hopeful. Caleb needed all the help he could get, and one particular help proved to be one of the most helpful to his recovery. This help actually came in the form of a Golden Retriever named Colonel.
Colonel is a therapy dog who paid frequent visits to Caleb while he was recovering. Nobody expected Colonel to be of much help other than providing comfort for Caleb, but he surprised everyone. Everyone started to notice that Caleb became much more responsive whenever Colonel visited him. It was an emotional experience for Caleb’s family. They couldn’t believe that a dog would have such a huge impact on Caleb’s recovery.
Colonel being there encouraged Caleb to move and attempt to play with him. His desire to play with Colonel triggered something in his brain that helped with the recovery. The doctors were also astounded by how much Caleb improved and recommended continuing Caleb’s therapy, including the visits from Colonel. After months of therapy, Ben was back to being a happy kid.
Colonel played an important role in Caleb’s recovery. Whenever he walks into Caleb’s room, Caleb forgets that he’s in a hospital and focuses on playing with Colonel. Just by being in Caleb’s hospital room, Colonel encouraged the child to move his arms to throw a ball or to reach out to stroke his fur.
Colonel proves that we should never underestimate the healing power that dogs have. Even with a simple cuddle, dogs give us great benefits for our mental and emotional health. Here’s a video featuring Colonel and how he helped Caleb recover from a seemingly hopeless situation.
Video Source Zoo Land via YouTube
