KENT ISLAND, Md. — All of us want to do what we can to help our veterans. On the Eastern Shore, one marine wants to see others get the same kind of help she did.
"In 2010 I was lost, I had no idea what I was going to do with myself, with my life,"Rebecca Fletcher explained. "It was actually the best choice I mad for my self."
And then a tragic accident.
"I woke up to a nurse telling me, 'Calm down, you lost your leg'."
With her marine corps career over, she left with no direction. Then her new experience gave her motivation.
"I wanted to train service dogs for other disabled veterans," she said.
So, with the help of the Semper Fi Fund and Home Depot, Mayhem's K9 Corps Training Service was born. Fletcher trains service dogs for veterans and others. Fletcher says dogs react to what the owner does, this gives a veteran that may be struggling a chance to help identify their problems.
"Someone with PTSD can really see themselves in the dog because the dog reacts to what's going on and helps them through that," she explains.
When Rebecca does her training, she trains both the dog and he owners. It's the two legged ones that give her a lot of problems.
"We have to really focus on the person. Your dog is a mirror and they are going to reflect back onto you whatever you project onto them," she said.
Knowing how a dog helped her in her darkest time, gives her joy to see a student see that connection with their dog.
"Sometimes it makes me want to cry with tears of happiness."
Tears that will certainly be wiped away by her K9 companions.
