Is it fate? Dog links two wounded vets
Xenia, Ohio (CNN) -- Karen Shirk has spent 15 years matching people with service dogs that can help them with their special needs and disabilities.
With the help of her staff, she puts a lot of thought into the process to make sure each person has the right dog for them.
But one recent story -- involving an Afghanistan war veteran and a German shepherd named Gabriel -- has her convinced that larger forces are sometimes at work.
It began in March, when Shirk got an e-mail from U.S. Army Sgt. Derek McConnell. McConnell had lost both his legs in an IED explosion, and he was desperate for a service dog while he recovered at Walter Reed Medical Center in Washington.
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Shirk and McConnell grew to be friends, and she was struck by his generosity. Although Shirk was going to give him his dog for free, she asks civilians to contribute to help offset their dog's training costs. So McConnell had started planning ways to help raise money.
Then, one day, Shirk didn't hear from him.
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Shirk was devastated to learn that McConnell had passed away from complications related to his injuries the previous night. But she soon decided that the best way she could honor him was to place Gabriel with another disabled soldier.
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"I said, 'Find me another Derek!'" she recalled.
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Murphy, like McConnell, had lost both his legs in Afghanistan. But Shirk soon discovered that they had much more in common.
She found out they had served in the same unit and been injured on the same day. In fact, McConnell had actually helped with Murphy's medical evacuation, just hours before suffering his own injuries.
Both had also recovered at Walter Reed and become friendly during therapy together.
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/06/27/us/cnnheroes-shirk-recovery-dogs/?hpt=us_c2