Iraq veteran Eric Calley, a former Marine, copes with his post-traumatic stress disorder with the help of his rescue Doberman service dog. The Doberman, Sun, stays with Calley at all times to watch his heart rate and stress level. From the Lansing State Journal:
If he has a nightmare, she wakes him up with a nudge of her cold nose.
“She was rescued,” he says, “to rescue me.”
“She helps me just leave the house,” Calley said of Sun. “She helps me deal with people. Dogs are 10 times more intuitive than humans. They pick up things way more than we do. If you have a flashback, and say you’re dreaming you’re overseas and you wake up, you still think you’re over there for a while. She helps you get out of that. She brings you back to real time.”
But a male US Airways flight attendant was apparently not touched by this special friendship, repeatedly yelling at the pair after Sun placed her paws on another seat to stabilize herself during turbulence.
Another veteran sitting behind the two described the scene to the Journal, saying that it was obvious Sun was a service dog and that no one else was bothered by her, while the attendant “just started going off about how the dog can’t be on the seat and you have to get that dog down.”
Other passengers began to complain about the attendant’s behavior, while the attendant threatened to call the police. Around a dozen submitted complaints to the airline after the flight.
Calley also said he had been mistreated in other ways throughout the trip, including harassed to prove Sun was really a service dog.
US Airways sent Calley a letter apologizing for the flight attendant’s behavior, saying “it appears our airport personnel didn’t handle the situation with the quality customer care we expect.”
“We sincerely apologize to Mr. Calley for his experience and thank him for his service to our country,” the airline said, in another statement released to reporters. “American holds the men and women who serve and who have served our country in the highest regard.”
They have not specifically apologized for any of Calley’s other complaints.
Calley noted that, with PTSD a growing problem among recent vets, airlines and other companies will need to learn to handle situations like these. “We are going to continue to have this huge influx of new veterans coming back,” Calley said. “And it can take a veteran four to five years after getting out to even attempt to get help. The thing I want US Airways to understand is that this is going to be a growing problem. There will be 10 others like me.”
Read the full Lansing State Journal report here.
(h/t Daily Caller)
