Another long-time New Leash client, David Surgnier, has Multiple Sclerosis, lives alone and is confined to a wheel chair.  However, he is able to continue his work as an environmental engineer, constantly flying on commercial airlines from one location to another, thanks to his dog Maxie, a Golden Retriever, Maxie is named for Maxie Anderson of Sayre who was responsible for the first nonstop balloon crossing of the Atlantic Ocean and of the United States.

While Maxie pulls David’s wheelchair through the airports and helps him in a thousand other ways every day, David said the most important thing Maxie does is to force him to get out of bed every morning and keep going. “You can’t think about how bad you feel with a cold nose in your face. Maxie is priceless.”