A touching video making waves on the web today is all about second chances.
When rescue Irish Terrier Duffy started to lose his eyesight, Duffy’s caretaker, Benjamin May, says he and his parents (Duffy’s owners) were beyond devastated. Duffy’s decline seemed to progress rather quickly, May explains.
“Within about 3-5 months he went from a totally normal 8 year old dog to a dog who was completely blind,” May wrote of Duffy on the popular website Reddit.
“It broke my heart seeing this dog I grew up with, who I see as a very good friend…running into things, not being able to recognize me…just struggling,” he added.
Duffy, now 9 years old, suffers from canine diabetes, which, much like diabetes in humans, means that his body cannot properly produce insulin, making it difficult for the body to process sugar. There is no cure for the condition.
His owners first suspected Duffy might have diabetes last year, when he began peeing in the house frequently, one of the telltale sign of the often-debilitating disease.
Sure enough, doctors confirmed the worst — Duffy’s blood sugar was all over the charts. Soon after his diagnosis, Duffy went blind, no longer able to see his loved ones.
But his dedicated family and skilled veterinarians weren’t ready to give up on the sweet Irish Terrier. Duffy’s family administered medications and monitored the Duffster’s blood sugar levels religiously, until one day, vets gave the okay to try a surgical procedure that could restore Duffy’s sight.
“Thankfully we got his numbers steady and [doctors] said we could attempt surgery,” says May.
Duffy underwent surgery in January, and the procedure was successful. His family made sure to have a camera rolling as Duffy’s vet removed the bandages and allowed Duffy the chance to see his loved ones once more. Duffy’s joy is palpable as he wags his tail, greeting his mom and dad with, if not a fresh set of eyes, then an improved set.
Duffy’s happy moment has gone viral. The resulting video, which May uploaded to YouTube on June 14, has already been viewed over 1.5 million times.
May says he’s proud to see how far Duffy has come since his surgery.
“Obviously he’s still diabetic so he still needs to receive an insulin injection twice a day but the surgery to repair his eyes was a total success and he hasn’t developed any problems or complications with his eyesight,” May tells the Huffington Post of Duffy.
Sources: Huffington Post, YouTube.com, Yahoo.com, Reddit.com
