Taka arrived at the clinic still smoking.
He was 8 years old and had just escaped his burning home in Georgia in October 2018. Veterinarian Chrystal Lesley, who received him that night in Augusta, would later say that it was the worst burn case she had seen in her entire career. Seventeen specialists from a burn center worked on his head, back, and even his eyelids so he would not lose his sight.
Some recommended putting him to sleep. Lesley refused. She cared for him, treated him for months, and when he finally healed, decided to keep him forever.
What no one expected was that this scar-covered body would end up comforting others. A nurse saw something special in Taka and suggested that he visit burn patients. Today, as a certified therapy dog, he enters hospitals and lies down beside children going through what he himself endured: he reminds them, without saying a word, that pain and adversity can be overcome.
