Cienna Ditri was walking again. Her service dog, Piper, seemed barely able to believe his canine eyes.
Though far from agile as she inched her way toward the house that sunny summer day, Ditri was walking nevertheless.
We wager her doting dog’s reaction to this development is the most adorable thing you'll see all day.
A disability inclusion consultant and model from Michigan, Ditri, 28, has suffered terrible ailments for the past decade. Those include hypokalemic periodic paralysis which rendered her wheelchair-bound for the last several years.
She and Piper used to enjoy hiking the great outdoors of northern Michigan and even surfing and boogie boarding together. Yet even as she lost her mobility, he remained loyal and loving right by her side.
“Piper has the best personality. If I don’t feel well, he will happily spend the day snuggling with me,“ Ditri told The Epoch Times. ”But if I’m wanting to spend a day exploring, he is just as happy taking it all in and sharing all those little moments together that make life so magical.”
Fortune smiled on Ditri when she found a promising treatment for her hypokalemic periodic paralysis at the Mayo Clinic in Arizona. Last summer, she and her mother—and Piper, too, of course—made the trip and stayed at her aunt and uncle’s home in California.
They had 14 days to kill between treatments; meanwhile, they anxiously awaited signs of hope. Would the treatments work? Would she walk again?
“It was in California that I took my first few steps,” Ditri said, recalling the milestone moment. “I remember being incredibly overwhelmed with joy and excitement.”
Seeing her shaky but upright walking, Piper was “so joyful, excited, and supportive,” Ditri said. “He is always my biggest cheerleader and it was incredibly special to share that moment—and love-filled moment—with him.”
“I think Piper knew that me learning to walk would make places we couldn’t go before as easily, like enjoying the outdoors on hiking trails or beaches, much more accessible to us,” she said. “And boy does Piper love doing those things together.”
Her recovery is the best birthday gift this service dog could ask for.
Their bond runs deep. Piper has saved Ditri’s life more times than she or her service dog trainer can count, she said. He has been trained to help her pick up dropped items, close doors and drawers, hit accessible door buttons, and get help when she needs it.
Moreover, Piper is trained to retrieve her medication and alert her before she passes out from allergic reactions, or before she has a periodic paralysis attack when her blood sugar is too low, or when she stops breathing.
It’s almost like Piper can read her mind, she said.
“He knows through his trained medical alerts when I’m not feeling well even before I do,” Ditri said. “Simply put, Piper is my very best friend.”
