April 14, 1999
Trained dog first in Canada to aid Parkinson's victim
Tom Arnold-National Post
After battling Parkinson's disease for the last 12 years, Ian Pearson is
about to get some unique help for his movement and balancing problems:
He will be the first Canadian to receive a specially-trained dog for
people with Parkinson's.
It is considered a significant step forward for the 100,000 sufferers of
the disease in Canada, as there are only eight other such dogs in the
world.
The dog, a 15-month-old black Labrador known as Jax, will use its paw to
initiate
movement when Mr. Pearson is "frozen." Immobility in Parkinson's
sufferers is caused
when motor signals fail to go from the brain to the muscles. The dog
will also help Mr. Pearson, a former Air Canada manager, move his limbs
more smoothly, and will give him better balance.
Jax is still being trained at the Independence Dog Institute in
Pennsylvania. The pair will bond over a three-week period, likely in May
or June. Jax will then move to Canada.
Training costs $12,000, but the non-profit institute charges $200 for
those seeking dogs.
"Jax is going to be my buddy, but he is my working dog," said Mr.
Pearson, a 48-year-old married father of two from Mississauga, Ont.
Mr. Pearson said his body sometimes freezes when he is in confined
environments. "Jax is going to be there and he is going to improve the
dysfunction that I have. He is going to make sure I don't fall. "It's
magic -- I don't know how he does it, but it
works."
--
Judith Richards, London, Ontario, Canada
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