[nagdu] Blind New Yorker who survived fall on subway tracks withguide dog gifted new service dog

[melissa R green]

I know what I am going to say may sound synical or a little harsh.
this is a good story and people feel good about the outcome.
I hope that this man gets more support than just financially.
He will face lots of challenges ahead.
I also know that many retired service anemals have no  rights in the ADA or 
the fair housing act.
so this part of the story will not be told.
Unlike the feel good and warm and fuzzy one of the amazing and super guide 
dog that helped this poor blind man.
I say bletch to the negative steriotypes surrounding this story.
As I have said, the other parts of the story will not be told on a national 
level, and may be not on a local level.
I wonder how many other stories are out there that are like this one in some 
fashion that we never heard anything about them.
I love the misspelling  of graduated.
Just my opinion.

best wishes,
Sincerely,
Melissa R Green
"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole 
staircase." -- Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ginger Kutsch" <GingerKutsch at yahoo.com>
To: "NAGDU Mailing List,the National Association of Guide Dog Users" 
<nagdu at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Tuesday, January 28, 2014 6:54 AM
Subject: [nagdu] Blind New Yorker who survived fall on subway tracks 
withguide dog gifted new service dog


Blind New Yorker who survived fall on subway tracks with guide dog gifted
new service dog

NY Daily News

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/blind-new-yorker-survived-fall-subway-tr
acks-guide-dog-gifted-new-service-dog-article-1.1593292



If a man's only as good as his friends, Cecil Williams sure knows how to
pick them.



Weeks after the blind New Yorker and his trusty guide dog narrowly escaped
death after falling before an oncoming subway train, the 60-year-old man has
been gifted a new service dog after his heroic canine, Orlando, retired as
his pet.



"I feel that I was blessed with Orlando, right? And now I'm being blessed
again," Williams told NBC's the Today Show while seated beside his black Lab
and newly acquired yellow Lab, Godiva.



Anonymous donors reacting to the William's heart-warming story of his dog
jumping to his side chipped in to allow Williams to keep Orlando, who's
pictured with him in the hospital here.



The now famous pair first made news in December after Williams fainted and
fell off a 125th St. subway platform, and awoke to find his 11-year-old
service dog protectively by his side.



Both Williams and Orlando - who witnesses said protectively jumped down on
the tracks moments after his owner fell - only just survived after they
dipped their heads down at the last minute as the train roared overhead.



"Orlando was like my angel, and he's always been that since I got him,"
Williams told NBC. "We work together. I protect him and he protects me."



Then word came that Williams could neither afford to keep Orlando - who was
set to soon retire - nor afford a new guide dog.



Anonymous donors reacting to the news soon after chipped in to help Williams
afford Orlando. In a second remarkable act of kindness, he was gifted
Godiva.



In his interview with NBC, Williams was moved to tears as he described his
good fortune brought on by the generosity of strangers.



"The spirit of good will, it exists," he said. "In the world you see a lot
of negative things, but I try to focus on the positive."



Godiva was one of nine January gradates with the Guiding Eyes for the Blind,
a nonprofit based in New York. The dogs go on to serve the blind and
visually impaired.



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