Canine inspires double amputee

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By Patricia Mangan

The expression “A Dog is a Man’s Best Friend” is debatable for Noblesville resident La-Gretta Norvell. Her feeling is that it also is woman’s best friend and she is living proof.

Colt, a rat terrier, is the companion of Noblesville resident La-Gretta Norvell. (Photo by Patricia Mangan)
Colt, a rat terrier, is the companion of Noblesville resident La-Gretta Norvell. (Photo by Patricia Mangan)

In 2006, Norvell became a double amputee after discovering a blood clot in her aorta which traveled to her legs. Months of hospitalization and rehabilitation and a move to an apartment complex with a first floor unit were just the beginning. Norvell lost her job. A former athlete, she struggled to adjust to a wheelchair and double prosthetic legs.

Devastated, angry and depressed, she nearly gave up. Until her life changed completely.

“The best part is that I got a new best friend – my dog named Colt,” Norvell said, adding the canine was named after the Indianapolis football team that won the Super Bowl that same year. “This dog is so smart as if he sensed I was not really normal as other people.”

A dog lover who previously had larger dogs, Norvell adopted a small rat terrier. The Norvell family loves sports and naming the dog Colt after the Super Bowl winning team was a perfect fit. The family had something to celebrate even when times were extremely trying.

Colt loves to play. He has a huge box of toys and his own bedroom with a mini bed, mattress, sheets and pillowcases in Norvell’s walk-in bedroom closet.

“Colt is my companion and I enjoy playing with him,” Norvell said. “I spoil him a lot and even bought him 20 outfits and a winter coat as we go jogging together when I use my scooter and attach his leash.”

Norvell found her way back to the person she was before her amputations and said Colt had a lot to do with her transformation.


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