Sheldon Ewers laid on the floor of his bedroom with a loaded .40-caliber pistol pointed at his face.
A wave of depression had washed over him earlier that day in 2017. He felt so hopeless he decided to end his life. His wife and daughter were not home. His medical service dog, Roy, was asleep in the front living room of his Michigan home.
Ewers is a U.S. Navy veteran who later worked as a Michigan corrections officer. Experiences in both left him diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, hypervigilance for threats around him and depression.
“I pushed (the gun) back in my throat as far as I could,” Ewers said. “I don’t know how Roy knew but, he knew. He suddenly came running in, he put his paw on my face, started pawing at my hand and arm … throwing himself on me to get me to pay attention to him. So I put the pistol down.”
The dog persisted, pushing his body against Ewers’ chest, forcing Ewers to let go of the gun and wrap his arms around Roy instead.