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In those thirty hours, he was reminded that God was with him. And during that time, one of the verses that resonated with Cole most was 2 Timothy 1:7:
For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.
When he came out of the room, he not only had a new perspective but also a new plan.
Cole knew that his symptoms of PTS were not going to disappear overnight, but he didn’t want to continue using methods that proved ineffective. A friend talked with Cole about how much a trained service dog had helped him, and it seemed like the perfect option.
But acquiring a trained service dog wasn’t easy, and it wasn’t cheap.
….
So using ten thousand dollars of his own money, he acquired a German Shepherd, Kaya, on his own. Through Assistance Dogs International, Kaya was trained to wake Cole up from nightmares and to recognize stress patterns in his voice.
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Cole says that within weeks he saw a drastic reduction in nightmares, and Kaya quickly stops his stress from snowballing into attacks of depression and anxiety.
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Now a full-time student at Texas A&M University, Cole spends his spare time advocating for his fellow veterans and lobbying for a bill known as the PAWS Act, which stands for Puppies Assisting Wounded Servicemembers Act.
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Between ten and eighteen percent of veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan experience Post Traumatic Stress, and on average, twenty-two veterans commit suicide a day.
Cole Lyle is part of that percentage. And he almost became a statistic.
But as he and Kaya walk the halls of Congress, it is clear to anyone who crosses their path: There’s hope.
- Discussion
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This will brighten your day… the most powerful lobbyist in Washington, D.C.: https://t.co/u4eCZHEVMQ
— Kate Bryan (@katembryan) June 8, 2016
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