A SUPPORT dog is carrying on the legacy of an inspirational teenager who died after an epileptic seizure - much to the relief of a Barnsley woman.
Bev High has found massive comfort as she grieves the loss of her only son, Chris - helping another ‘Chris’ to graduate as a life-changing assistance dog.
Chris Tween was just 19 when he died after suffering an epileptic seizure, just weeks before he was due to start studying psychology at university.
Bev and Chris’ friends and family have spent the six years since Chris’ passing tirelessly fundraising to pay for the training of an assistance dog at the national Support Dogs charity and name the pooch in Chris’ honour.
Bev and five of Chris’ friends were there to watch the clever red fox labrador and his client, Barnsley’s Amanda Davidson, receive their honours during Support Dogs’ annual graduation and awards ceremony, held in Sheffield.
Knowing that canine Chris is making a real difference as someone’s lifeline is helping Bev to celebrate her son’s life - with wide-reaching results.
“Seeing Chris graduate was joyful,” said Bev.
“Chris wanted to go to university and never had the chance to graduate, but in a way, it was like seeing my Chris graduate.
“It was very moving and something positive to focus on.
“This has been a lifesaver for me - having something tangible where you can see the difference it makes to someone is fantastic.”
Amanda, a former policewoman, was forced to retire after being injured in the line of duty.
The mother-of-two later contracted auto-immune disease lupus before suffering a stroke aged just 38.
She told the Chronicle: “It’s absolutely amazing that someone can take such a loss of a young son and turn it into such a positive effort that not only makes a big change for me, but it’s also helping others as Bev is hoping to raise more money for additional dogs.
“It’s an huge show of strength and resilience and such positivity.
“It was an absolute privilege to meet her.
“Chris is so fast at learning things - in one session we taught him how to help me fold my wheelchair and in another how to pull my office chair across the office to my desk.
“He can also retrieve my wheelchair if it gets blown away.
“He is so eager to learn.
“The difference the charity makes to people like me, as well as taking non-verbal autistic youngsters into confident teenagers and providing life-saving seizure alert dogs, is just unbelievable.”
But Chris, and his predecessor Jupiter, have given her the confidence to face life with optimism and she even tackled Mount Snowdon and broke Paralympic archery records.
Bev said: “I can see how much Chris does for her and how much she needs that support.”
