At seven years old, Axel Lopez has already had 15 surgeries. His schedule is packed with therapy and specialist appointments.

He’s never known anything different.

Axel was born with Pallister-Hall syndrome, a rare genetic condition that impacts multiple organs in his body.

“He has a gastronomy tube where he gets fed,” said his mother, Denice Valles. “He had his tracheostomy done when he was 9 months old. He also has a hamartoma in his brain. He has kidney disease, stage 3. We’ve been through dialysis once already. He’s going to eventually need a kidney transplant.”

Lopez’s journey to walking

Axel started physical therapy through Salem Health at age two.

“He’s been really delayed on everything,” said Valles. “He wasn’t sitting up. For the first two years of his life, he wasn’t growing, so he was tiny. Then the growth hormones helped him get stronger.”

But a year ago, Axel started to get overwhelmed with anxiety at physical therapy, and his progress plateaued.

“For the longest time, it was really hard even coming to therapy, because I felt like I wouldn’t notice a difference,” said Valles.

Then, this spring, the family met volunteer Eric Schuman and his golden retriever, Kimber.

Above: Eric Schuman and Kimber walk with Axel and physical therapist Trent Tompkins.

A breakthrough with pet therapy

“We were here for another child, and Axel and Denice walked through the waiting room,” said Schuman. “Axel saw us and vocalized very strongly and pointed at Kimber. He wanted to meet her.”

From there, Schuman and Kimber started joining Axel’s physical therapy appointments.

 “Now we’re seeing he can walk without holding onto anything because his mind is so focused on the dog that he forgets he’s scared,” said Valles.

In the last few months, Axel’s mom said he’s more motivated, and his endurance is better.

Before, he would often quickly get tired when playing with other kids. Now, he’s out throwing a ball with classmates at recess.

Finding hope again

“It’s hard to come to public places and see everyone around his age walking,” said Valles. “And honestly, sometimes, as a mom, I would feel like not even going to those places — because it hurts seeing other kids that are able to walk. But seeing his progress gives me hope again, because for the longest time I had lost hope.”

Schuman said he often meets with other therapy dog handlers across Marion and Polk counties and, with Valles’ permission, shares Axel’s story.

“With my work, small miracles occur every day,” he said. “This one, not so small.”

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