Home alone and unable to reach a phone, Plymouth resident Frank Kuhar says there have been two instances plus other close calls in which he laid on his bedroom floor for four hours before a family member came home and helped him. Kuhar became a paraplegic in April 2004 due to a benign spinal cord tumor and was diagnosed with epilepsy in late 2010.
Stress of falling and other tasks took a toll on this once independent man. “People don’t realize I started out as an auditor and CFO of significant companies. It was difficult to go backwards and not be able to do things myself,” Kuhar says.
In December Kuhar’s life changed when Can Do Canines, a medical dog assistance organization, paired him with a mixed Collie, Diva. Trained to work with Kuhar, 2-year-old Diva picks up dropped items, opens automatic doors, retrieves phones, presses an emergency button if Kuhar falls, and is training to help Kuhar with seizures. “I no longer worry if I’m alright. She comes quickly to find me,” he says. “I love the fact that she loves me—she’s a terrific companion.”
&
9440 Science Center Dr., New Hope; 763.331.3000
