A Dog With A Brain Tumor Dies After Attending His Owner’s Wedding
We are used to saying that life is made up of moments. Moments that can bring us varied and, at times, contradictory feelings. It is also said that the love of pets for their owners is unconditional. Well, that and many other topics we’ll talk about in today’s article. It is the story of Charly Bear, a dog with a brain tumor, who survived until he could see Kelly O’Connell, his owner, get married.
The encounter between the veterinary student and the abandoned puppy
Source: Photographer Jen Dziuvenis’s Facebook
The first meeting between Charly and Kelly had taken place 15 years ago. At that time, then, she was 19 years old and studying Veterinary Medicine in New York. I also worked at a shelter for homeless animals.
Then, one day, she met Charly Bear. With only 12 weeks of life, someone abandoned him in a shopping cart, in the middle of winter.
When Kelly saw the puppy, a mix of Labrador and some other breed, she knew they were made for each other. And the dog too. So she decided to adopt him, even though it wasn’t in her plans to have a pet. Life usually has these things.
A diagnosis of cancer while organizing a wedding
The story between Charly and Kelly was unfolding. Later, they moved to Colorado, a state in the western United States. There she met James Garvin, a colleague with whom, later in 2010, she began a relationship.
Everything was happiness for Kelly and James as they planned their wedding. But suddenly, last spring, Charly Bear suffered a seizure while walking.
The exams they did on the furry one didn’t bring good news. The dog had a brain tumor. And the prognosis was not encouraging.
The sacrifice of a pet, a difficult decision
As the convulsions continued and Charly could not guarantee a better quality of life, Kelly and James decided to sacrifice him to avoid further suffering.
The wedding day approached and having to euthanize a faithful companion of so many years was a bucket of cold water in their happiness. But seeing her beloved pet suffer was also soul-breaking.
However, a few days before the ceremony, the animal began to show some improvements and the couple then decided to postpone the sacrifice.
Charly, the dog with a brain tumor who didn’t want to miss his beloved owner’s wedding
That’s how Charly Bear, the dog with a brain tumor, was able to attend the wedding of his beloved owner.
Kelly is convinced that the dog did everything possible to survive until the date set for her wedding and thus be able to accompany her at this moment so important to her.
Is that a few days later, the dog showed serious signs of deterioration in its health. And then it was impossible to keep putting off his sacrifice.
A story that became public and moved many
Source: Photographer Jen Dziuvenis’s Facebook
But if it hadn’t been for the camera of the photographer hired for the party, this Kelly and Charly story would have remained anonymous, like so many other accounts of unconditional love between people and pets.
Jen Dziuvenis was deeply moved to see the relationship between the woman and her dog, and to learn the details of the disease that afflicted the animal. So she asked permission to publish some photos on her website and social networks.
That’s how the news of the dog with a brain tumor, who used his last doses of energy to go to his owner’s wedding, reached different media that publicized the fact. It’s almost impossible not to be moved by the image of Charly, now weakened, in the arms of the bride and the bride’s sister, Katie Lloyd.
Images source: Facebook photographer Jen Dziuvenis
