Editor’s Note: Healing4Heroes has provided training or service dogs for three members of the same family: Ty Bathurst, a retired Navy SEAL, and Ollie; Ty’s brother-in-law, Kevin Weintraub, a retired Marine, and Mera; and Ty’s brother, Micah Bathurst, a civilian with a neurological disease, and Liberty. This is part two of a series following these extraordinary service dogs and their families.
Micah and Liberty
When Independence Day is a day when Americans celebrate freedom. For Micah Bathurst, it’s now a day when he found a new kind of freedom in his service dog, Liberty.
“The main thing she does for me is picking up things, but more importantly than that, I got a best friend,” he says.
Bathurst, 46, has Charco-Marie-Tooth disease, or CMT for short, a neurological disorder that affects the extremities. Micah has lived with the progressive degenerative disease since he was 5 years old. He has used a wheelchair for the past several years, as the disease has stolen much of the abilities in his hands and feet.
“I can tell my legs to move but there’s a half-second to 8-second delay,” he says. “I can’t keep my balance because my calves don’t respond. My left hand is dead from the wrist down, and my right hand kind of works.”
Micah’s sister, Brie Weintraub, works for Healing4Heroes, an organization that provides service dogs to military veterans. Micah’s brother, Ty Bathurst, and Brie’s husband, Kevin Weintraub, both veterans, have been given service dogs. Micah has never served in the armed forces, but Brie and Ty talked to H4H founder, Piper Hill, about getting a service dog for Micah’s unique needs.
“I didn’t know much about them but my sister and brother talked to Piper about seeing if a service dog would be good for me,” Micah says.
After many phone calls starting in November 2019, Micah was matched with Liberty, a Belgian Malinois-Husky mix. As a former prison rehabilitation dog, Liberty knows 27 tasks and was trained to help Micah with his everyday needs. H4H volunteers brought Liberty from Louisiana to his home in Albuquerque, New Mexico, on July 4, 2020.
Liberty has the look of a malinois, with a Husky’s striking blue eyes.
“She’s very unique looking and gorgeous,” Micah says. “Those eyes just stare into your soul.”
While Liberty’s main task is helping Micah pick up things that his hands can’t manage, she’ll do “just about anything,” he says. “She’s very intuitive to what I need. She’s constantly right behind me or next to me.”
Micah has ropes tied to anything that can open around his house, including doors, the refrigerator, cabinets, and even Liberty’s food bin, so the service dog can tug on them. She picks up anything he drops, and, lately, she’s been his emotional support when the nerve pain from his condition gets too much for him.
“Sometimes I get nerve pain in the middle of the night, and I’ll start slamming my feet into the ground to distract myself,” he says. “Liberty will snuggle under my armpit, like ‘I’m here for you, buddy.’ She’s so in tune with me and just a wonderful dog. I can’t say enough about her.”
A former electrical engineer, Micah’s condition forced him to quit working a few years ago. He stays home most days, although he and Liberty try to go for walks in the afternoon and throw a tennis ball around. While Liberty is pretty easy-going and friendly, she has one downfall.
“Don’t pull her tail,” Micah says, laughingly recalling when his 4-year-old grandson came over and Liberty became testy when he tugged her tail.
Micah credits Liberty with keeping him motivated by having a morning and afternoon routine while his wife and two daughters who still live at home are gone for the day.
He is grateful to H4H for bringing him Liberty, despite his not being a veteran, and especially driving all the way from Louisiana to New Mexico in the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These people are pretty amazing,” Micah says. “I appreciate who they are and what they did for me. They changed my life. I didn’t have anything to look forward to, and now I have his amazing dog who wants to do something with me.
“Liberty is more than just a service dog; she’s a definite friend. I didn’t ask for that, and that just amazes me.”
