Support Dog Helps Owner Fly High

An air cadet officer who passed a training course with flying colours says it wouldn’t have been possible without her support dog.

Wendy Martin, from Birmingham, has limited mobility due to disc degeneration in the base of her spine and neck, as well as osteoarthritis and the pain syndrome fibromyalgia. She uses manual and electric wheelchairs, crutches or a walking frame.

The 59-year-old has been involved with the Air Training Corps for over 40 years, although until recently she had to take a back seat due to her ill health.

But after discovering two local squadrons were disability-friendly, she got fully on board and passed a pilot officers’ course at RAF Cranwell, in Lincolnshire. Following her success Wendy was quick to credit her support dog, a Fox Red Labrador named Penny.

Penny has been trained by the national charity, Support Dogs, to help Wendy with a range of tasks, including getting dressed and undressed, loading and unloading the washing machine, picking up dropped items, opening doors, laying on her to put pressure on her legs and fetching help.

“I wouldn’t have been able to do the course without Penny,” said Wendy, who volunteers with 479 Rubery Squadron and Edgbaston-based St Paul’s School for Girls Combined Cadet Force.

“She went everywhere with me. We were in lessons throughout the week, and she had a reserved seat in the Officers’ Mess, so whenever we went for breakfast or an evening meal, she had her own ‘reserved’ sign on the table.

“She helped me get undressed on an evening and she helped to pull me up out of the bed, which is lower than mine at home. She also helped to get my shoes and socks off.”

Support Dogs, which provides and trains assistance dogs to help autistic children, and adults with epilepsy or physical disability, to live safer, more independent lives, has been supporting Wendy for 18 years.

To find out more about how Support Dogs helps people like Wendy, please visit www.supportdogs.org.uk or call 0114 261 7800.