It was reported in the Huffington Post that a young woman and her service dog caused quite a stir over the weekend when they both showed up to her college graduation ceremony dressed in matching caps and gowns.
On Sunday, this photograph — which shows the graduate at the side of the stage in a wheelchair accompanied by her pooch — went viral after it was posted online by Redditor tcjones54:
“The girl and the dog received the loudest applause hands down. Very adorable,” tcjones54 wrote.
According to posts on Reddit, the photo was taken at the Saturday convocation ceremony of the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign.
“This picture is everything that is right in the world,” wrote Redditor AndreThreeHundred. Then, a day after the original post went viral, the woman in the photograph uploaded another picture to Reddit.”
This is my service dog, Hero, after we graduated with our Master’s degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign,” she wrote in a caption accompanying this Imgur photo.”Hero knows over forty commands to assist me,” she added on Reddit on Monday, adding that the dog had been quite the “celebrity” at the graduation ceremony.
“He loves to retrieve objects for my like envelopes, pens, my crutches, etc. He also turns off the lights, opens doors, and he pulls me in my wheelchair up ramps! I couldn’t have gone to college without him.”
‘After WE graduated?!’ Heart melting.
This is a great story that once again reminds us of the incredible value of service animals. They are willing to faithfully serve their disabled owner giving them more than just assistance. They give them freedom, comfort, security, and love as well as the ability to achieve their highest potential.
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