London police officer Andrew Gough doesn’t leave the house without Riggs, his service dog. Gough suffers from PTSD. “Riggs has not only changed my life, but he’s my best pal.”
Two friends of Gough are also in need of a service dog. To raise money he has organized a comedy night, hosted by Ryan Horwood, a close friend of his.
“Service dogs are not as inexpensive as people might think. They are about 20.000 dollar a piece and sometimes more,” says Gough.
Andrew Gough and his service dog Riggs
The end goal is to raise 40.000 dollar. “Every dollar that is raised this night, between the ticket sales, through donations and fifty-fifty silent auction items, is going directly to Searchlight Service Dogs.”
Gough believes there is still a stigma around people working in emergency services and their mental health, but it’s getting better.
“By doing events such as this and me being very open about my injury, we are trying to raise public awareness. It is helping others like me feel that it’s okay not to be okay.”
Riggs, Gough his service dog, even has his own Instagram: opc_riggs. “We have a great time with it and it helps us to raise more awareness for PTSD.”
No final count has been made yet, but Gough is humbled by the support from the community. “This event was organized to help two very deserving people receive life changing service dogs. They were blown away by the response. I’m sure you’ll see us doing this again.”
