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Therapy dog plays key role in Lee County veteran's recovery

Albany Herald - 5/15/2022

May 15—ALBANY — When disabled veteran David Kelley left his Lee County home for Jacksonville, Fla., to train with his therapy dog, Bert, a pure-bred English Labrador, he was taking "22 or 23 medications" to help him deal with post-traumatic stress disorder associated with his military service during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

By the time Kelley and Bert returned home three weeks later, Kelley "got rid of" all of his medications but one.

"It's all about the bond," Kelley said Saturday as he and Bert took part in the Mental Health Awareness Community Fair at Mount Zion Baptist Church.

That bond between man and animal has, Kelley said, changed his life dramatically.

"My wife told me after about 45 days with Bert: 'You're the man I fell in love with again,'" Kelley said. "You can't imagine how good it feels to get to be a dad again to my kids, not just a father."

Kelley, who doesn't talk about his military service, said a VA counselor at the Navy Hospital in Jacksonville mentioned the K-9s for Warriors program during a counseling session, but he had no immediate interest. But after "nearing my wits end, praying hard and in a very dark place," Kelley started doing his homework. He reached out to the organization.

"They asked me questions about my life and my lifestyle," Kelley, who notes he and his family are homesteading on land in Lee County, said. "Then they matched me with a dog, and it turned out to be the perfect one. Except for when I go hunting or to a very few places where animals are not allowed, we go everywhere together.

"Bert and I are so in tune, if I start to have a nightmare, he knows it and wakes me up. He senses the tension, sits on my chest and licks my face. I always wake up before I actually have the nightmare. That's such a blessing."

Kelley, who said he and his family raise dairy cows, chickens and goats on their homestead, has been deemed "unemployable" by the VA. Even so, thanks to Bert and the love of his family, he's in a good place now.

"I went from a very dark place to getting my life back," he said. "Bert played a big part in that. He's my friend; he's got my back."

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