FORT LUPTON, Colo. — Hank Ford says his days often felt long and isolating for years after leaving the military. A veteran of both the Marine Corps and the Army, he describes retirement as “a lot of alone time,” a dangerous mix for someone living with post-traumatic stress disorder.
“Idle hands are not a good thing,” Ford said. “Especially when you’re battling with PTSD and depression. It’s not good, and so that’s why I got Tommy.”
Tommy is a 3-year-old service dog trained by Dogs Inc, a nonprofit pairing veterans with animals who can interrupt panic attacks, reduce hypervigilance and provide grounding during periods of stress. Ford was matched with him in September 2023. The connection, he said, was immediate.
“I can just look at him and move my eyebrows, and he knows what I’m about ready to tell him,” Ford recalled. “We keyed into each other pretty quick.”
That bond took on new meaning one morning in February. Ford was asleep when Tommy began barking — something he rarely does. The dog climbed on him, pawed at him and pushed insistently with his nose.
“He kept hitting me and hitting me, and he wouldn’t stop,” Ford said. “I’m like, ‘go outside, go outside,’ and he wouldn’t do it.”
When Ford got up, he realized something was off.
“I could literally feel my heart beating,” he said.
A blood pressure cuff showed 150 over 115, with a heart rate of 171.
Ford drove himself to the hospital, where doctors diagnosed him with atrial fibrillation, or AFib, a rapid and irregular heartbeat that can lead to stroke if untreated. He says the doctors told him the timing of his arrival was critical.
“They told me, had he not woke me up, I could have had a major stroke in bed, or not woken up at all,” said Ford.
