Monday, June 16, 2008

Actress Glenn Close interviews disabled vet about his service dog

Bill Campbell and Pax

Actress Glenn Close has a blog called Lively Licks, affiliated with fetchdog.com, in which she profiled dogs and their people. On June 15, she interviewed disabled veteran Bill Campbell about his service dog, Pax.

Pax has helped him alleviate symptoms from traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder, which resulted from his military service in Iraq, he says.

Specifically, Campbell says:
I guess one thing that I do now that I didn’t do before is interact with people.
Pax is a magnet for all kinds of people. They have all kinds of questions about
him and about me. I have no choice but to interact with them. So, in a sense, I
have become more social. Also, since coming back from Iraq I have a poor sense
of personal security. Pax is an extra set of eyes and ears and a great set at
that. I trust him to alert me if something is out of the ordinary. As a result,
he has freed me to do things like go running or enjoy one of my favorite
hobbies, photography. I have also gone with Pax to a couple family gatherings,
something I have not done since coming back from Iraq. I tend to focus on Pax
and not on my surroundings, he distracts me.