Baxter the future for rescue mission
A TORMENTED man says a rescue greyhound ended up rescuing him from spiralling into a cycle of depression and hopelessness that had been consuming his life.
Benjamin Carthy suffers from Guillain-Barre syndrome, an extremely rare and excruciating condition that attacks the victim’s nervous system.
At the age of 17, the condition took away his ability to run and jump, dashing his dreams of one day becoming a professional basketball player.
IT’S WONDERFUL. I NOW SPEND MY DAYS AS HIS SERVANT. YOU DON’T GET PAID … BUT YOU DO GET PAID IN UNCONDITIONAL LOVE
BENJAMIN CARTHY
Over the years the pain would fluctuate, sometimes quieting down, sometimes escalating to the point where he would lie awake at night, unable to sleep because he was in sheer agony.
“I was in so much pain that I thought if I’m going to be in pain like this for the next 30 years I want no part of that,” Mr Carthy said.
“Four times I’ve had these episodic effects. I get zapping pain in my feet, like someone was stabbing me, and my legs get all swollen with all these red blotches over it.”
At one point he was working as a university administrator, but he was forced to quit his job after his condition became too debilitating, leaving him with an unpaid mortgage.
Mr Carthy was at a particularly low point in his life when he happened to stumble across a pet festival in Surry Hills, Sydney, where he met a greyhound who would change his life.
“He was laying on the ground with his arms and legs in the air, some guy rubbing his tummy,’’ Mr Carthy said.
“I wanted to nudge him [the guy] out the way, because
I was in love already. He got up and walked off, so I held on to him. I wanted him, I wanted him.”
The greyhound had no name, having been dumped unceremoniously in the bush near Western Sydney.
Mr Carthy adopted the unnamed dog on the spot and named him Baxter The Future, after one of his favourite movies.
In 2017 Mr Carthy, his girlfriend and Baxter moved from Sydney to Kingston, right near the dog-walking beach.
Mr Carthy is still undergoing extensive treatments and is often kept awake at night by the pain, but whenever he can’t sleep he takes Baxter out for a nocturnal walk.
Whenever Mr Carthy feels he has nothing to live for, he thinks of Baxter and how much the dog depends on him.
“With him it’s wonderful. I now spend my days as his servant. You don’t get paid — it’s an unpaid internship — but you do get paid in unconditional love,” Mr Carthy said.
“He’s a rescue, but he’s definitely rescued me. It’s been life-changing. It’s been the most amazing thing in my life, probably ever.”