Coco & Alex Get Money Needed For Service Dog Training

By: Adam Uhernik - Email

Updated: Wed 7:47 AM, Jan 30, 2013

Large St. Bernhards dog

A Grand Island boy who feels no pain because of a medical condition is getting help from man's best friend in hopes of a better life, but his dog needs special training, and his family turned to the community for help.

Seven year old Alex loves his dog Coco, they are inseparable, but unlike most dogs, his parents say Coco keeps their son safe.

The canine needs official training to better keep Alex safe, and multiple fundraisers later, she'll get it.

"We earned over $15,000 and so we were able to move her training up to the first of February," said Alex's Mom Kim Anderson.

On Thursday Alex, his parents, and Coco will head to California. Robert Anderson says Coco's training will offer Alex a whole new life.

"He's going to be able to do stuff that he wasn't able to do because we wouldn't let him go out by himself. Now he'll be able to go out and walk Coco," said Alex's Dad Robert Anderson.

His parents say Alex will be able to better handle his anxiety around big crowds, and that means he'll be headed back to church and a classroom setting at school.

"It's not only a new sense of freedom it is a life for Alex. It's a life that he hasn't known," said Kim Anderson.

Alex's parents say they are grateful to the community for all of the support. They say without the money for Coco's training Alex wouldn't have a life he deserves.

"It makes you feel like you are not alone, like there are people out there that do care and are interested in it," said Kim Anderson.