Retired New York City sanitation worker Raphael Jarvis is getting a little help with handling his PTSD this 9/11 anniversary from man’s best friend.
Jarvis, who spent months searching the wreckage for victims of the 2001 terror attack, told the New York Post that his new service dog Ben “jumped on me right away” when they first met.
“I have the happiness that was missing all these years,” the 64-year-old military veteran said.
The veterans’ group K9s For Warriors reportedly provided Jarvis with his specially trained canine companion.
Like so many survivors of the terror attack, Jarvis’ life took a painful turn 24 years ago Thursday.
He recalled how Sept. 11, 2001, seemed like it was going to be a “perfect day,” weather-wise, until news of the planes hitting the World Trade Center shattered the beauty of the crisp Tuesday morning.
“Nobody believed it — everybody thought it was a Bruce Willis movie,” Jarvis told the Post.
After making his way down to Ground Zero, Jarvis said he went “right into action” and didn’t leave “the pile” for the next nine months. At first, he said, he was looking for survivors, but, as time dragged on, the focus of the search shifted to recovery of remains.
“You could smell the morgue,” Jarvis said, adding that he personally suffered the loss of two people he knew well.
His former first officer, Walter McNeil, and his fireman friend, Ronnie Henderson, were among the victims that day, he told the Post.
With 23 years of service in the National Guard, Jarvis had filled out his retirement paperwork when his unit was called up and deployed to Iraq as part of the 2003 U.S. invasion. He went willingly, he said, because it was his duty.
“I did what I had to do,” he told the Post.
But after retiring from the military the following year, Jarvis said he could feel the effects of 9/11 and his time at war physically wearing on him.
“I came back home, and I didn’t recognize myself,” the divorced New Yorker said, noting that he snapped at people without warning and suffered severe headaches and insomnia.
When a counselor at the VA hospital told Jarvis he “might blow up” if he kept his emotions bottled up inside, he said it deeply affected him.
“I thought I could handle myself, but I realized I needed help,” he admitted.
Following his diagnosis with PTSD, depression and anxiety, the lifelong “animal lover” applied for a service dog.
He instantly connected with Ben, the golden retriever provided by K9s For Warriors that he described as his “pride and joy.” The nonprofit reportedly covered approximately $30,000 for the nine months of specialized training that the canine required.
Jarvis said the two are inseparable and on Thursday, Ben will take the lead and guide his friend back down to the World Trade Center site to mark the somber anniversary.
“I couldn’t do that without Ben,” he said, telling the Post that it’s important to him to attend.
“I still get those butterflies in my stomach,” he said, but Ben makes him “feel safe.”
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