With the help of a dog, Bella was able to walk again in just six months.
Morquio syndrome is a very rare disease that was present at birth in Bella Burton, a 13-year-old girl from New Hampshire.
The girl couldn’t walk because of this, and she never thought she would be able to again.
But everything changed when she met George, a big, gentle service dog who was 2 years old.
Under the care of George, Bella was able to walk again in just six months!
“My leg muscles got so weak that it was hard for me to move,” the girl said. “But when George was born, it seemed to make me want to walk.”
“It wasn’t like work; it was more like talking to my friends and animals,” she said.
When Bella was about two years old, her family found out that she was sick.
Since then, they’ve tried many different ways to treat it, but none of them have worked.
Then they found out about service dogs and decided to give them a try.
So, Bella and George got together.
When she was helping out with the Service Dog Project in Ipswich, Massachusetts, this happened.
We didn’t know what to do because she was always happy and liked being there. We asked, “What are we waiting for?”
Rachel found out who Bella’s mother was.
Even though she loved animals, the dogs didn’t like her at first. Only George did.
Since then, Bella and her family have started to bring George home, at first just for the weekend and then for good.
Bella and the dog soon couldn’t live without each other.
But it turned out that the gentle giant was more than just a friend, because he taught Bella how to run, ride a bike, and even swim.