Student 'so grateful' for life-changing dog

A student who relies on walking aids due to a health condition said having her family pet trained as a dog has changed her life.

Elie-Mai Riddick, 24, from Ashton Gate, Bristol, has Scheuermann's Kyphosis, an excessive curvature of the spine which left her needing a walking stick or wheelchair to move around.

As her condition worsened, Ms Riddick lost the confidence to go out alone, which led to her taking two years out of her forensic psychology degree at Bath Spa University.

But after her labrador Bleddyn was trained as a specialist disability dog by the National Dogs charity, she is back studying with Bleddyn by her side.

Ms Riddick said she caught a train from Bristol to Chelmsford recently which is something she would "never have done" without Bleddyn by her side.

"I was very anxious previously [so] I would have just relied on lifts or driving myself," she added.

But she said was now "trying to get more out of my comfort zone" and having Bleddyn trained as a dog had given her "a lot more confidence".

Ms Riddick was born with Scheuermann's Kyphosis but wasn't diagnosed until 2012 after complaining about back pain from when she was seven.

She was a competitive dancer and sporty before being told she needed surgery to avoid irreversible paralysis.

However, after an eight-hour thoracic spinal fusion surgery in 2019, her balance did not improve and she needed a walking stick.

She got Bleddyn four years ago to help her through depression due to her condition, and was advised by a friend to look at getting him trained to her, so she applied to Dogs in 2023.

The charity trains specialist assistance dogs to help children and adults with autism, epilepsy or a physical disability.

In January this year, Ms Riddick suffered a fourth acute paralysis episode and was diagnosed with Functional Neurological Disorder (FND) which left her needing to use a wheelchair more often.

However, she said she was "so grateful" to have Bleddyn to help with dressing, opening and closing doors, and with washing and drying machines.

He can also fetch her walking stick, keys and phone and he has an alert bark and can get help if she falls.

"I think it's incredible, the amount of people [ Dogs] help [and] the amount of confidence it gives people with disabilities," she said.

Scoliosis and Research says Scheuermann's kyphosis is a condition where the front sections of the vertebrae - the small bones that make up the spine - grow more slowly than the back sections.

Patients usually present with it from about 10-16 years of age, and often experience back pain, especially during early teenage years.

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