Lending a helping paw
Assistance dog offers his owner guidance, companionship through pandemic
Coronavirus helpers have come in all shapes and sizes. Joe Latimer’s helper is an entirely different breed. It’s a mix of Labrador retriever and a golden retriever, and he’s made Latimer’s life a lot more tolerable the past three months.
“He’s been great,” Latimer said.
“He” is Helios, a frisky, 3-year-old assistance dog.
His owner is Latimer, a resilient 40-year-old paraplegic.
When you cross Helios with Latimer and a pandemic, you see what it’s really like to handle a life-changing event.
COMMENTARY
Latimer’s came five years ago. He was walking his dog across a street and a car ran a red light going about 45 m.p.h. The crash left him unable to walk or use his hands.
Latimer picked up the pieces of his life and now lives with a his longtime girlfriend, Tracey
Nealley. She’s a clinical nurse manager with AdventHealth.
Like a lot of health professionals, Nealley hasn’t been around the house much.
“Obviously, their world has been turned upside down,” Latimer said. “She’s on call 24/ 7, trying to take care of things at the hospital and also making sure I’m taken care of.”
No worries. Helios is also on call 24/ 7, though you wouldn’t have known it on a recent visit to Latimer’s house.
He was lounging on a couch and appeared to be fully engaged in a nap.
“He’s always listening,” Latimer said.
His snoozing housemate heard a command and snapped to attention.
“Helios, stand!”
“Helios, leash!”
He grabbed a leash with his mouth and delivered it to Latimer.
“Good boy!” Latimer said. They live in a house Latimer bought six months before his accident. He was 35, healthy, had a great relationship with