At the Paralympics, a poodle stole the spotlight as her owner, Sydney Collier was awarded as the leading young para-dressage rider in North America.
CNN reports that despite her almost blindness, paralysis, and multiple brain surgeries, the 17-year-old American was the youngest rider to join the 2014 World Equestrian Games finishing at 9th place out of the 25 participants. With Journey, her service dog always at her side, spectators couldn't help but adore the five-year-old poodle too.
"When I first heard I was getting a service dog, my dad and I jokingly said: 'just as long as it's not a standard poodle,'" Sydney recalled. "But Journey is amazing. The list of things he can do is probably longer than the list of things I can do."
Sydney got Journey after she fell and broke her collar bone while leaving a cinema in 2012. Following the accident, her family thought a service dog could help.
"He helps me walk -- he walks alongside me and acts like my cane. If I'm about to fall, he'll brace all his muscles and keep me from falling," she shared. He picks up things that I drop, he can open and close doors for me, turn on and off lights, open and close cabinets ... and if I fall he'll find my mom."
"It's surprising that when people fall, they often aren't aided," Sydney's mom, Anna told CNN. "But if Syd falls and Journey can't help her get up, he won't let people ignore the fact that she's there.
"As a parent, that makes me so much more comfortable if she wants to go to the mall with her friends," Anna added. "Before, I felt I needed to be there. Now, he watches her like an eagle. He is always watching to make sure she's OK."
With Journey's help, Sydney can still be able to live her dreams with all her physical conditions set aside. "The moment that stands out was the opening ceremony. It was at that moment I realized I had beaten my Wyburn-Mason syndrome," Sydney shared. "I had overcome all of these huge obstacles I'd been faced with."
@MilkBone check out one of your biggest fans Journey the Service Dog keeping his rider and horse in tip top shape! pic.twitter.com/hDehseerNp
— sydney collier (@sydsparaquest) June 5, 2015
