LITTLE RIVER, SC (WBTW) – A local firefighter has donated a service dog to a fellow first responder suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder.
James Giddens and his wife took home Rudy on Saturday. Giddens has been a firefighter in the Charleston area for the last years. This summer, he was diagnosed with PTSD. He says the medication he was prescribed just wasn’t working for him, so he reached out to Canine Angels Service Dogs. The organization based in Little River trains service dogs specifically for veterans and first responders suffering from PTSD, a physical illness, or even loneliness.
A local firefighter donated Rudy to Canine Angels, who then gave Rudy to Giddens. He says it was important for him to seek the necessary treatment, and is hopeful Rudy will change his and his family’s life for the better. “I don’t want to mask the symptoms. I don’t want to mask the outbreaks. I want to make sure that I get healed some way, and I feel like with this dog, I’m not going to be 100% but my life can get normal and I can get off those medicines.” The firefighter also donated the funds for Rudy’s training sessions.
