Even a hero needs rescuing from time-to-time.
So when Marine Corps veteran, Cpl. Cole Lyle needed saving, it was his service dog who came to his side.
After all, a dog is a man’s best friend.
Kaya, Lyle said, had saved him “on multiple occasions.”
If she wasn’t there, I don’t know that I would be here,” he said.
After having served in Afghanistan, Lyle was diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in 2011. He said therapy and pills only “made things worse.”
And, Lyle said, in April of 2014 he nearly became a victim of veteran suicide “when another Marine knocked on the door and saved my life.”
From that night on, Lyle and another veteran worked to train Kaya as his service dog. Kaya was trained to wake him from nightmares and helped stop his anxiety attacks.
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“Kaya wasn’t just a dog, she was a service dog that was, specifically, trained to help me,” Lyle said. “She became an ambassador for all service dogs in the US. She really was one-of-a-kind.”
Kaya even joined him on Capitol Hill as he lobbied for other veterans who have PTSD to get service dogs, as well.
Sadly, Kaya passed away this year of cancer. Lyle chose to honor her memory with the non-profit Kaya’s K9s. The goal, he said, was to help pay emergency vet bills and critical care help for veterans’ service dogs.
“What I’m trying to do is save the dogs and heal the dogs that are serving veterans, ultimately, because I want these dogs in the fight – to continue to prevent veteran suicide,” Lyle said.
Another lasting legacy of Kaya’s work with Lyle came in 2021, when the Puppies Assisting Wounded Service Members Act, aka PAWS Act was signed into law.
Lyle said that Kaya got sick quickly. In January, he noticed a lump on her right elbow and she was soon diagnosed with cancer. “It was everywhere,” he said.
His friend, actor Gary Sinise (and founder of the Gary Sinise Foundation which helps veterans get homes) paid for Kaya’s vet care. The doctors tried everything.
“They said, ‘We can try to treat it with radiation therapy. We can try to treat it with chemotherapy, and we won’t charge you anything.’ And it was going to be in the tens of thousands of dollars for all of that treatment. And I was really blown away with the offer,” he said “But they also said, ‘We can prolong her life maybe for a month or two, but it’s going to be uncomfortable. I didn’t want her to continue to be in pain and suffer —after all the suffering that she had stopped throughout her life.”
Kaya took one final trip with Lyle on Feb. 2, two days before he said his last goodbyes. He shared a video of Kaya’s flight that went viral, gaining more than 300 million views.
I had no idea it would resonate as widely and as intensely as it did,” he said. But the love for his dog moved viewers to tears.
Lyle said that when he is asked if he will get another dog, he likes to mention that Kaya helped him make so much progress that he no longer acutely needs a therapy dog. But that doesn’t mean he doesn’t need a pet.
Cole Lyle lobbying congress for the PAWS act. Photo by Cole Lyle
But for now, helping other veterans is his goal.
“These dogs are supposed to be a lifeline for veterans that need them,” Lyle said. “They shouldn’t have to go through financial stress caring for their dogs. The mission is very simple: We want to heal dogs that serve veterans.”
Watch below as Lyle talks to Congress about the need for helping veterans.
Sources: People | Washington Times
