The world needs a little Faith

By Libby Cluett
lcluett@mineralwellsindex.com

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There’s no doubt Jude Stringfellow loves Strawn’s non-profit Community Animals Rescue Effort – she writes about it on her dog’s Web site and tells people she meets. She has even committed to build CARE an animal shelter.

Since her initial visit in April, she supports them through words and Faith, the name of her bipedal dog.

After meeting CARE and visiting Strawn, she has become a fan of the organization and the region. She and Faith crossed the Oklahoma-Texas border once again this month to visit her CARE friends and give cheer to a 5-year-old cancer survivor in Gordon. They also visited CARE’s Faith-inspired rescue, Leo, a three-legged canine at Brazos Animal Hospital, where he was treated last spring.

When Stringfellow and Faith recently visited Mineral Wells, she brought along her daughter, Laura, and an entourage of CARE friends – youth and adult volunteers – and New York filmmakers. The group followed Faith around Palo Pinto County for the filming of Fuji-TV’s “Unbelievable.”

“Unbelievable” – a TV show that airs in Japan – shares stories of unbelievable events around the world. Stringfellow called the show an exaggerated version of “Ripley’s Believe it or Not.”

Fuji-TV, a major Japanese broadcast station, picked up on Faith’s story soon after Stringfellow’s second book, “Faith Alone: Stories of an Amazing Dog,” was translated into Japanese. The dog’s story became popular in Japan.

Stringfellow said Fuji-TV chose to focus on Faith to “show what Faith has done for people and special needs animals.” The show will air in Japan this fall.

The group began their visit in Gordon, visiting 5-year-old Ryland Fesser. Ryland was supposed to travel to Oklahoma for the filming but became homebound after he broke his femur days before his trip.

According to Ryland’s mother, Amy Fesser, Stringfellow brought the film crew, Faith and entourage down after she heard Ryland could not travel up for the filming.

“We visited him to cheer him up,” said Stringfellow. “Faith made him happy.”

Ryland is a cancer survivor who met Faith during her April visit to Strawn. Amy Fesser said that he was diagnosed and treated at Cooks Children’s Hospital for a Wilms’ tumor on his left kidney. As a precaution after surgery, treatment included rounds of radiation and chemotherapy, which made him bald.

“By time Faith came in April, he had probably been bald for a month or two. He had been real embarrassed about his head and wore a hat,” said Ryland’s mom.

She said that she and his father, James Fesser, talked about Faith, before her spring visit to Strawn, and told him how different and special she was, like him.

“We’d said, ‘You don’t have hair, you’re so special,’” she added.

They attended the April program CARE put on with Faith and Fesser said they asked if Ryland could get close to the dog.

“They said, ‘Go right on over.’ He pet her and he was really liking her. He pulled his hat off for her,” she said, adding that this was a huge step for the child. She said he also showed the dog his scar.

“He was very shy to show his scar from kidney removal,” recalled CARE’s Pam Lindsey. “He talked to Jude and Faith and lifted his shirt to show Faith his scar. His mom said it was a changing moment. That is the whole reason Japanese TV wanted to interview him.”

“It was right after he met Faith that he became more comfortable and wasn’t worried about people noticing he had no hair,” she said. “He let people touch his head and would show them his scar.”

After visiting Ryland, Stringfellow’s and Faith’s entourage traveled to Mineral Wells to stop in to Brazos Animal Hospital. There the filmmakers interviewed Dr. Tad Jarrett, who operated on CARE’s spritely rescue dog, Leo.

According to CARE President Peggy McQueary, Leo was a stray pointer mix living at Possum Kingdom Lake. A resident saw him several days and then, one day, he didn’t show up. When he returned, he was injured. So the resident took Leo to Brazos Animal Hospital and called CARE for assistance.

CARE took on the dog’s oversight. When Jarrett told them he had a severely broken leg and would need surgery, McQueary said they almost said, “No.” She said the surgery would require putting much of the organization’s resources into one animal.

But timing is everything, according to McQueary. Leo’s surgery dilemma came weeks after Faith visited Strawn for CARE’s anniversary. The group decided to go ahead with the surgery, inspired by Faith. Once Jarrett inspected the damage, he called them back to say it was too late to save the leg and asked if he should euthanize the dog.

McQueary said, “No.” On the recent visit, Leo – who has since found a lifetime home in Gordon – walked around the clinic to greet Faith and the entourage. It barely was noticeable that the lively tripod dog was missing a hind leg as he pulled hard on the leash to see the excitement.

Leo met his “savior” Faith and the two shared licks and sniffs.