By Jay Scott Kanes

LAMMA ISLAND, Hong Kong -- Thanks to a sympathetic therapist who'd never treated a furry patient, Curly, a dark dog with tiny ears and a twisted tail, has achieved a miracle of sorts.

As a slightly mischievous dog-about-town, six-year-old Curly often wandered along Main Street in Yung Shue Wan, the largest village here. Two months ago, an assault by other dogs outside a popular restaurant left him badly injured, paralyzed in his hind legs.

After many X-rays and three days hospitalized at a veterinary clinic on Hong Kong Island, Curly returned to Lamma where he lives with Suzie Yu, Phil Wheelband, their baby Dean, and another dog, Bravo. The medical experts had talked of serious damage to Curly's spine, nerves and muscles. His recovery prospects looked slim.

“Half his body was totally paralyzed,” Suzie said. “We thought probably he'd stay like that for the rest of his life.”

Suzie and Phil vowed to care indefinitely for the disabled Curly. With Phil busy as an electrical-construction worker, the burden fell on Suzie.

 “It didn't matter because Curly's part of my family,” Suzie said. “He's so special. I loved him so much, and I still did. Everything had changed in his life, and everything had changed in my life too. I couldn't leave my baby or Curly home alone. So every time I went out, I had to carry them both. It was very hard.

“We decided to take the wheels off a baby pram to make a device to help Curly move,” Suzie said. “And I worked on how to carry him so he wouldn't need to drag his legs.”

Unable to stand, walk or even relieve himself without help, Curly struggled with depression. “I knew from his look that he'd given up himself,” Suzie said. “He'd been a wild, happy dog who went anywhere he wanted. Suddenly, he couldn't do anything except lie there. He felt really down and stopped eating properly. He wouldn't even look at me.”

The tide turned when another dog-owner, Flora Yan, an osteopathic manual therapist, learned of Curly's plight and offered to treat him. But she'd never worked on a pet and needed to study dog anatomy, which she did on the Internet late at night.

“I knew this kind of thing could work on animals too, but the body structure and pressure points are a little different,” Flora said.

She held four sessions with Curly, applying strategic pressure to his nerves, joints and soft tissue. The treatments hurt, so much that the dog needed to be muzzled and held down.

“Flora covered every single nerve-ending all the way down Curly's backbone and over his whole body,” Phil said. “Most of the work went to the last five inches of his back.”

Positive results appeared fast. “After one treatment, one leg started to come back,” Suzie said. “Within two days, Curly suddenly used a back leg to scratch. When I saw that, I was so excited that I jumped all around. It was amazing. Soon Curly could stand. We knew his walking would come. It was a miracle. Wow!”

According to Phil, “Flora has the hands of Jesus Christ reincarnated.”

Although Curly may not run again, he has rejoined the family on walks along Main Street. Suzie and Phil are thrilled. Naturally, so is Curly.

"It's like Curly had lost the whole world," Suzie said. "Suddenly, he got it back. We're really happy."


Flora embraces her own dog, Lulu.


What a relief! Curly's no longer glum.


Things are looking up, big time.

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