DESTIN — A local family experienced a holiday miracle on Christmas when a beloved friend missing for months finally came home.
Logan Walton, a 21-year-old with muscular dystrophy, had found a soul mate in AJ, his black Lab-mix dog.
See photos of Logan and AJ. >>
The canine was trained through Alaqua Animal Refuge’s Unconditional Love program just for Logan.
Just a few months after he got AJ, Logan became very sick and was hospitalized in Birmingham, Ala. The family brought AJ to Birmingham and stayed with Logan’s grandfather. At some point AJ disappeared.
“I think he went out looking for Logan,” said Adele Leas, a trainer with Alaqua’s program. “He got out in September from Logan’s grandparents’ house in Birmingham. I spent an entire weekend putting up signs, calling, talking. It was awful.”
The Unconditional Love program pairs canines with Walton Correctional Institution inmates to be trained, Leas said. AJ was trained specifically to work with Logan.
AJ’s trainer sat in a wheelchair and mimicked Logan’s speech patterns so AJ would be a perfect match.
“(The inmate) met Logan during his training and took it upon himself to train AJ differently than he had for the other dogs,” Leas said. “He was so inspired by Logan. AJ was trained perfectly.”
After AJ was gone for more than three months, everyone but Logan had lost hope he would be found. Every time Logan was asked what he wanted for Christmas, his request was for AJ to come home.
“I had sort of given up hope, but not Logan,” Leas said. “Christmas Eve morning, Logan’s grandfather opened the door to the cat, and instead of the cat it was AJ.”
Logan’s grandfather brought AJ back to Destin on Christmas Day for the reunion.
“They have a real affinity for one another,” Leas said. “It was a Christmas miracle.”
Contact Daily News Staff Writer Angel McCurdy at 850-315-4432 or amccurdy@nwfdailynews.com. Follow her on Twitter @AngelMnwfdn.