Sarah Varley was just 19 when she was attacked and she suffered PTSD. She became so terrified of vomiting that she would only eat three raisins and three walnuts each morning. She lost 2st 5lbs in five months, sparking fears that she would die without help.
Now 28, Sarah, from southern California, credits spending eight hours a day with a pack of wolves and mixed-species wolf dogs with saving her life.
She said: ‘I do not know if I would be here today without the wolves.
‘The way things were going, I was trying anything I could to numb the pain and you can only do that for so long before something happens.
‘I was scared of everything, but one day I went into the enclosure with a wolf and it was the first time my brain shut up. When you’re with a predator that can hurt you, your brain automatically focuses on that.
‘Instead of the million imaginary threats I had been on guard against, I was focused on this one threat and I was present in the moment.
‘When I first began spending a lot of time with them I definitely felt hyperaware and there were moments when it was scary.
‘Wolves are really powerful animals and if something pisses them off or you are doing something they do not like they are going to make it known.
‘But having that level of fear was what allowed me to start feeling. Before I was scared of everything around me, but when I was with a wolf I had a legitimate reason to be scared and respectful which gave me something to be focused on.
‘I think that respect and that need to be present is what helped me so much.. It allowed me to take back power over a traumatic event in my life and it has helped me heal.
‘I am so grateful to these animals – I feel very lucky.’
Sarah works with both pure breed wolves and wolf dogs, which are the result of breeding between wolves and dogs within the animals’ last five generations.
Source
VIDEO
Now 28, Sarah, from southern California, credits spending eight hours a day with a pack of wolves and mixed-species wolf dogs with saving her life.
She said: ‘I do not know if I would be here today without the wolves.
‘The way things were going, I was trying anything I could to numb the pain and you can only do that for so long before something happens.
‘I was scared of everything, but one day I went into the enclosure with a wolf and it was the first time my brain shut up. When you’re with a predator that can hurt you, your brain automatically focuses on that.
‘Instead of the million imaginary threats I had been on guard against, I was focused on this one threat and I was present in the moment.
‘But having that level of fear was what allowed me to start feeling. Before I was scared of everything around me, but when I was with a wolf I had a legitimate reason to be scared and respectful which gave me something to be focused on.
‘I think that respect and that need to be present is what helped me so much.. It allowed me to take back power over a traumatic event in my life and it has helped me heal.
Sarah works with both pure breed wolves and wolf dogs, which are the result of breeding between wolves and dogs within the animals’ last five generations.
Source
VIDEO
Excellent Story! Glad this helped you. Wish this was available for more people with PTSD...
I patted a wolf at the Serbian zoo.2004. There was hole in the fence. It was acting like a big dog And liked being stroked.