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Years of struggling with cerebral palsy has often left Matakana resident Hannah Kerse with little to smile about.
Hannah, 23, has been wheelchair-bound all her life and in recent times her feelings of frustration and isolation have led her to experience severe anxiety and depression.
But the donation of a retrodoodle puppy called Willow, to serve as an assistance dog, has proved a major help in lifting her spirits.
Hannah says it was love at first sight when she went with her brother to pick up the golden retriever-poodle cross from Karaka.
Rather than lay on the bedding Hannah had brought along for Willow for the car journey home, Willow preferred to sit on her lap and snuggle into her arms.
“She is just so comforting and perfect in everything she does,” Hannah says.
In addition to being a wonderful companion, Hannah anticipates the dog will be a big help in social situations.
She says most people don’t have a lot to do with people confined to wheelchairs and they feel awkward. Often in stores people will stare at her.
“Whereas if I have a cute little puppy, they will want to talk to me. It will break the ice,” she says.
Hannah’s mother, Sally Kerse, says she hit on the idea of an assistance dog while researching anxiety and depression in an effort to help her daughter.
She says Hannah has suffered depression since high school where she was badly bullied.
“The kids were hideous. They would come up behind the wheelchair and start spinning it round and round. They would tell Hannah she was useless, simply because her mother had to pick her up and drop her off at school.”
Things got so bad Hannah was taken out of school and continued lessons by correspondence.
“The teenage years were hard. Things are not much better now as Hannah feels very isolated from other people her age – all living totally different and far more exciting lives than her,” Sally says.
Sally learned an assistance dog could be an antidote to loneliness and could also be trained to perform a variety of tasks that Hannah cannot or struggles to do for herself such as pick up things from the floor, open doors, take shoes off, get drinks out of the fridge, find the TV remote, put washing in the washing machine and summon assistance if further help is needed.
At first, Sally worried she would not be able to afford such a dog but was overwhelmed when a breeder volunteered to donate Willow for Hannah’s future health and happiness.
Willow is currently being trained under the auspices of the Perfect Partners Assistance Dog Trust to fulfil her varied duties.
Her trainer is based in Christchurch and training sessions are undertaken via Skype.
Sally says the training is expensive but Willow is responding magnificently.
“We’ve had dogs for the last 30 years, and I would say Willow is better trained already. She is amazing.”
Once Willow is fully trained, she will be certified and have the same privileges and access as guide dogs for the blind.
Could you help with the cost of Willow’s training? Email Sally Kerse, sally.kerse@xtra.co.nz
