(GLENVILLE, NY) A huge accomplishment for a 61-year-old Glenville man with a mission to help struggling veterans. Veteran completes 4,000-mile trip in support of service dog programs, a veteran himself, just completed a grueling 4,000-mile journey split between land and sea. Kayaking down to Key West and then biking back to Upstate New York. The entire trip took him just over 5 months.
Thomas arrived back at the Glenville Rotary Club, of which he's a member, last weekend on his bike to a roar of applause and hugs and kisses from family and friends.
"I'm very proud of my son for what he has done and what he has achieved." Says his mother, Delores Thomas. "Very happy. Very proud."
Thomas partnered with the Rotary on this project called Doggy Paddle for Veterans. It's a nationwide effort which raises money to purchase service dogs for struggling veterans. Thomas knows the benefit of a service dog firsthand. His golden retriever, Boots, helped him with stress induced seizures stemming from his time in the service. CBS6 spoke with Thomas about his dog prior to leaving on trip in September.
"Not only did I get a dog, but the dog I got happened to recognize that I was going to have a seizure way before I had a seizure." Thomas said.
Unfortunately, Boots passed away from cancer last summer just weeks before Thomas left. Training a service dog can cost upwards of 50-thousand dollars. All funds raised from Thomas's journey go directly to the Doggy Paddle Mission. He wants to raise awareness about the important role a service dog can play in the recovery and healing of a returning veteran.
"If I could see how much it helped me in that short period of time .." Thomas says of his experience with Boots. ".. then in a long period of time, it has to help veterans that have much worse disabilities than me."
For more information on this cause you can visit www.doggiepaddle.org