Lost and found – the day I lost my dog

When I was a child, I was involved in a bad car accident that left my on a wheelchair for almost a year. It was a tough experience, everything seemed hard, and the hardest bit had to still actually come: once my body recovered, because I had not moved for so many months, I had to start the rehabilitation process which I perceived as a nightmare. Everything hurt, even the simpler gesture was a painful, difficult task, and I had the feeling I would never be able to be “normal” again. After a few months I was beginning to give up on myself, I was spiralling into darkness, and in that moment my parents decided I needed help. Buddy arrived home a few days later and if I became a professional surfer it is because of him. It has been pure love for his whole life, which came to and end after fifteen years together. The day I lost my dog I lost a part of me which I will never recover. But I also lost and found myself: in fact, I was in fact a new person, someone different that was aware of what love meant. I am incredibly grateful to that little creature. I know that he changed me for the better. While losing Buddy was maybe the worst experience of my life, it was very important for my growth.