War never chooses its victims. It’s a horrific event in human history.
We usually see people as victims of war. They get displaced and become refugees. Some who choose to stay home live a life of fear and uncertainty. However, what we don’t see are the other victims of war – the forgotten victims of war, the pets that get separated from their owners.
This is a story of a soldier finding a friend in the middle of a war zone in Syria.
During a routine patrol in Raqqa, Syria, bomb disposal expert Sean Laidlaw and his comrades heard what sounded like a child screaming underneath a pile of rubble of a bombed out building.
When they lifted a concrete block, Sean saw a puppy. Sean felt pity for the poor animal. It looked distressed, hungry, and afraid. After four days, Sean earned the puppy’s trust and decided to take the puppy back to base and take care of it.
He named the puppy, Barrie, thinking that it was a boy.
It wasn’t until Sean bathed the puppy and found out it was a girl. He decided to keep the name regardless.
Over the next few months, Sean and Barrie spent a lot of time together; they were inseparable.
Barrie would accompany Sean on patrols and tasks. And, the great thing about Barrie is that she served as a morale booster for Sean and his fellow soldiers.
All the soldiers loved her. The soldiers would come to see her and play with her, and she would get plenty of toys and treats from them.
When Sean left Syria on leave, he tried taking Barrie to The UK with him and formally adopt her. He got in touch with a charity organization called “War Paws” who helped out Sean to get Barrie out of Syria.
They organized Barrie’s travel to Iraq. However, upon arrival in Iraq, Barrie had to stay in quarantine for three months to make sure that she didn’t have any diseases and also to get her vaccines.
Barrie eventually made it to France after the quarantine period. And, Sean and Barrie were reunited
Upon reflecting, Sean thinks that Barrie saved his life as well as the life of his comrades. For a brief moment, Barrie erased the horrors of war in the soldier’s thoughts and brought something good.
Now, Barrie lives with Sean and his family. She lives a great life in The UK with his new family.
Here’s a video of how Sean met Barrie and how a friendship started in an unlikely situation.
Video source The Dodo via YouTube
Thank you Daily Mail for this story.
