27/10/2023
An extraordinary thing happened yesterday which was publication day for Keira & Me. I have a Labrador friend called Murphy. He is only two years old and has had horrific elbow problems such that he was genetically deformed and they collapsed and got badly infected.
There’s always an ethical line, where we must not put our animal friends through medical suffering without good hope of redemption in a reasonable timeframe. Murphy had both elbows fused solid using world-first implants. But infection was still a problem. We have been treating that infection and a mixture of faith, prayer and medicine got him to the point that he went home to his loving family yesterday.
And so the highlight of publication day wasn’t the publication itself - but rather the hope and love in Murphy’s eyes. The self-same hope I always saw in Keira’s eyes no matter how bad the day seemed. We love Murphy so much it’s really hard to put into words. Sending him home on Keira’s book day was among the best moments of my life so far.
And so a 17 year old Irish boy hoping to go to vet school but with no hope of changing the world - did change the world in that moment.
The faith and hope we can all share through the unconditional love we share with animals can make the biggest difference, at a time when the world needs love, hope and faith more than ever before.
When I was a child, the love of animals saved me from the darkness. I chose animal medicine because animals are my best friends and because I want to do all I possibly can to give them the same level of care that I want for myself or my human friends and family.
Murphy isn’t out of the woods yet. The world and our lives in it are always in a state of flux, the outcome determined by so many things out of our control - like infection.
I say in the book - it’s not what happens but what we do next that defines who we are.
I am not the small boy cowering in the cow shed in a farmyard in Ireland hugging Pirate our farm dog, with no hope and no future any more. I am a guy who is trying to do his best through the hope, love and faith I have learned from animals, to change the world for the better.
You too can look in Murphy’s eyes and share that same hope, love and faith. You too can dream big and avoid those who tell you it isn’t possible. You too can change the world, one small act of kindness at a time. Only the smallest things can change anything big at all. Murphy and Keira show us this in their magnificent eyes, seizing the joy in every single day in spite of adversity. May their light illuminate your path today as they have mine.
Biggest Love
Noel x
