Shaken soldier thinks a dog could be a tonic

Shaken soldier thinks a dog could be a tonic
Tuesday, June 21, 2011 03:04 AM
BY JESSICA WEHRMAN

THE COLUMBUS DISPATCH

WASHINGTON - A blast from a suicide bomber on a motorcycle in Afghanistan gave Joshua Endicott injuries from his head to toes.

Doctors and the medical staff at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington worked to heal most of those wounds.

But 10 months after Endicott, 20, of Columbus, was hit and ultimately evacuated from Afghanistan, the emotional scars remain.

Endicott, like many coming back from the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, lives now with post-traumatic stress disorder. Previously outgoing and carefree, the Purple Heart recipient now says he's constantly "stressed out" and always alert. Once an avid runner and swimmer, he now can do neither because of his injuries. "I don't feel safe, ever," he said.

For the first few months of his recovery, Endicott was assigned what the military calls a "non-medical assistant" - in this case, his brother-in-law, Jack Brock, who stayed with him as he navigated the recovery process. But in late May, Brock had to go home.

Endicott was alone.

But he has an idea of what might help him. He'd seen dogs aiding other injured veterans and had read about dogs helping victims of PTSD. Alone in Washington, he believes a companion dog might be what he needs.

"I have nothing," Endicott said. "A companion dog would be perfect for me."

While a number of initiatives use dogs to help service members, there is no current process to provide a dog to an individual soldier with PTSD, said Lt. Cmdr. Kathleen Watkins, deputy director for family programs in the behavioral-health division of the Office of the Surgeon General for the Army. The Army is developing a policy regarding service animals and also is involved in an overarching Defense Department policy on the use of dogs, she said. "In the course of treatment, health-care providers may on occasion facilitate contact between a service-dog nongovernmental organization and a soldier in need of a dog."


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Shaken soldier thinks a dog could be a tonic