1 / 5 Brad and Thor, San Francisco

Before Thor, I was terrible at taking my HIV meds. I was partying every night. Living wild. I was dealing. I really didn’t care about anything. And I didn’t want to take on the responsibility to change my lifestyle, which was slowly killing me.<br><br>One day a friend of mine asked me to help find a home for this dog named Thor.<br><br>His previous owner had been arrested numerous times for selling drugs and had moved to the projects. While there his old owner would let his new roommates use Thor in dogfights in order to get free drugs. When I met him he was healing from a recent stab wound.<br><br>I didn’t plan on keeping him, but once he came into my house and laid on his back to let me rub his belly I could tell that he felt immediately comfortable with me. He stayed with me for weeks while I searched for a home for him while we grew closer and closer. One day I realized I had found a home for him already: mine.<br><br>When I realized I was going to keep him I knew I had to get better and change my life. Not just for me, but because Thor deserved to be in a stable home.<br><br>His previous owner was also a drug dealer like me and had been busted, causing him to be homeless and not be able to take care of Thor. I realized that if I was going to have Thor I needed to do it in a way that didn’t leave any chance for him being uprooted again. So the first thing I did was stop dealing.<br><br>From there I also realized I needed to not stay out late any more so I could be home to take care of him and do lots of other changes if I planned to keep him in my life. These adjustments made it safe and healthy for Thor to be around. I in turn become healthier and safer in my own life. And I got clean, and stayed clean.<br><br>If I hadn’t had met Thor, I wouldn’t be here today. I wouldn’t have lasted this long. All my friends are gone. None of them passed their thirties besides me and I partied a lot harder than they did. But I somehow made it.<br><br>So for me to still be here today doesn’t make a lot of sense when I think about it. The only way I do make sense of it is by looking at Thor and knowing that without him I wouldn’t be alive. And without me he wouldn’t either.<br><br>Because we healed one another.<br><br><i>-- as told to<a href="http://wdhproject.org/zach-stafford-bio/" target="_blank"> Zach Stafford</a> of When Dogs Heal</i>

Jesse Freidin