A four-legged friend helped a boy accept himself (8 photos)

For any child, being different from others is not just a problem, but often a tragedy. Peers can easily bully you because of protruding ears, a large nose or excess weight.





Carter Blanchard learned of his diagnosis in kindergarten. Vitiligo is a skin pigmentation disorder characterized by the appearance of discolored, often symmetrically located, milky-white spots of varying sizes and shapes.



Carter

In different patients, the disease can manifest itself in different ways: affecting only the arms, legs or back. But Carter got the most unpleasant option - the spots settled on his face. And then they began to spread throughout the body.





Types of Vitiligo

When the boy went to school, his classmates began to tease and mock him. Carter withdrew into himself, was very worried and nervous. His mother Stephanie recalls that when she picked him up from school, her son repeated every time that he hated his own face.

In an attempt to help the child, the woman carefully studied the information on this disease. And I came across the page of another patient on the Internet. But unusual. It turned out to be a dog, a black Labrador named Rowdy.



Roadie

The pet’s page was run by its owner Niki Umbenhauer, who wanted to show people, especially children, that vitiligo is not so scary. And you can live with this no worse than others.



Stephanie contacted Nicky, who lived 2,000 kilometers away, and showed her son Rowdy's website. The boy watched the videos with the dog with interest and began to follow the life of his colleague in misfortune. However, the dog did not look unhappy. And Carter began to gradually change his own attitude towards his illness. Remarkably, Rowdy was diagnosed the same year as Carter.



The family did not have the opportunity to see their four-legged friend, who inspired him to fight difficulties and accept himself. But when the story became public and appeared on the Internet, an anonymous sponsor transferred money for the trip.



Carter was able to see Rhodey. And it was wonderful, touching and inspiring. Stephanie described the moment of the meeting as follows:

When we walked in, I didn't feel like they were meeting for the first time. It was as if they were already a family.



After meeting an unusual friend, Carter became more confident and learned to appreciate his uniqueness.

Unfortunately, a couple of years after the meeting, the dog died. He was nearly 15 years old and had recently suffered from frequent seizures. But the memory of the Labrador and his wonderful work continue to live and inspire the acceptance of oneself, one’s uniqueness and the happy life of other people - adults and children.