Florida Veteran With PTSD Gets Puppy After Thinking of Other Veterans

Former Marine With PTSD Brought to Tears as His Mom Gifts Him a Puppy for Christmas
Inside Edition
by Johanna Li
December 16, 2016

Finding a puppy under the Christmas tree may be viewed as a clichéd holiday tradition, but for this former Marine suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, the newborn beagle was the perfect gift.

Peter Coukoulis from Tallahassee, Florida was brought to tears when his family surrounded him Wednesday, and presented him a tiny puppy as an early Christmas present.

"Hey pretty girl," 26-year-old Peter could be heard saying in a video licensed by Caters News, while wiping away tears of joy with one hand, and holding his new puppy in the other.

His mom, Dena Coukoulis, told InsideEdition.com he has been struggling from PTSD since returning to civilian life three years ago.

"Sometimes he just looks sad to me," Dena said. "[He feels] a lack of purpose and self-worth. He has a hard time sleeping because he has bad dreams. Anytime he sees something big in the news, he feels like he could have done more."

Although Peter, who now works as an electrician, was qualified for a service dog, she said her son passed on the opportunity, hoping the dog will go to a veteran who deserved a dog more.
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