“The plan was some water therapy to see if we can build some muscle that had atrophied,” said Nicole Hampton, his foster mother.
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“There was some movements that weren’t really conducive with a full paralysis. He was clutching his feet, he was able to respond, his tail was wagging.”
That’s when Hampton got an idea.
She turned to the staff at the Home Hardware in Middleton, N.S., where she is a regular customer, and asked them to build a wheelchair.
“I didn’t know anything about the little dog. She came in asking for wheels, different types of wheels,” said John Beals, who works at the store.
“She had this idea of something she wanted to build and we just took it from there, started putting pieces together.”
Staff members were up for the challenge. They started looking for ideas on YouTube, struggled with PVC piping and glue, and before long, Devine had his very own set of wheels.
“It’s a prototype. First time we ever made one,” said Bernadette Napp, who also works at home Hardware.
Napp says “tears were flowing” when she saw a video of Devine using the wheelchair and taking his first steps. She also says she feels “privileged and proud” to see the difference to have helped the little dog.
And with his newfound mobility, there’s hope he will progress even more.
“He’s definitely a completely different dog than what we saw. It’s kind of nice to see that he has come and progressed so far even in the last couple of days that we’ve had him,” Hampton said.