Baltimore, MD - Lex, a German shepherd, suffered serious injuries in a March 2007, rocket-propelled grenade attack. Lex, a bomb-sniffing dog for the Marines, worked side by side with his partner and handler, Corporal Dustin Lee.
Corporal Dustin Lee, lost his life in the Iraq grenade attack - Lex lost his ability to walk. The dog was awarded a Purple Heart for his bravery.
At the funeral for the fallen Marine, Corporal Lee's family made the decision to adopt Lex. Lex and Corporal Lee had been inseparable - more than an elite team, companions and friends.
The family worked with Lex to help him regain the use of his legs and they eventually pursued stem cell therapy for the injured war hero. A veterinarian with the Georgetown Veterinary Hospital, Dr. Lee Morgan, facilitated the family's quest to help Lex recover from his debilitating injuries.
Hoping to help the injured dog regain lost nerve function, damaged tissue, and cartilage, Dr. Morgan removed some fat tissue from Lex's own body.
The fat was sent to Vet Stem where it is processed into Vet Stem Regenerative cells. The concentrated cells were then sent back to the vet clinic where they could be injected into Lex's body.
After just one stem cell regenerative treatment, Lex has made a remarkable recovery. According to Dr. Morgan, the treatment went exactly as planned.
The treatment was so successful that the veterinarians believe that Lex could even make a full recovery within the next 2 months.
In the meantime, Lex is already walking on his own again - his nerve function is improved and his future is looking bright.
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Comments
Great story....great hope for the future, and a great way to honor both dogs! Way to go, Lex......go far, go fast.....you totally deserve it.
This is great news. I'm teary-eyed reading about it, starting at the beginning and going all the way to the end. You go, Lex! I'll bet Dustin is watching from heaven and is very proud of you!
It's great to hear Lex is getting better , and also happy to see Lex is getting to stay with the Lee family , I'm sure Dustin would be proud to see his Marine buddy watching over his family now.
Semper Fi
It's a pity that medical research guidelines are so conservative . Treatments that have shown efficacy in animal models are very slow , if ever, approved, for humans. This snail pace, hyper cautious attitude is disfunctional and profoundly retards medical progress.
So glad to hear Dustins family adopted Lex and they're doing all they can to help Lex regain the use of his legs again, I hope the treatment works.
I'm really happy that this beautiful German Shepherd Rex is able to walk again. Hopefully the treatment will continue to be successful. Our Shepherd Scout died 2 years ago (at the age of 12) from spinal myelopathy and I would have given anything for him to be able to walk again.
I hope that this type of treatment will help not only other animals but also humans in the very near future.
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