John & Henry – A Warrior Allowing Himself to Heal

John Tappen is a 2021 graduate who lives in St. Johns County, FI. He was a flight engineer in the Navy and comes from a long line of military heroes.

 After his time serving in the military, he struggled to be in a public setting without feeling anxious, nervous or depressed. He says he tried everything under the sun to get back to the person he was before the military. "I found that none of it really worked the way I had anticipated. I felt like it was like putting a Band-Aid on a catastrophic injury. When he got paired with his Service Dog

Henry everything changed. "He gets me out of my head. It is like he knows when I am getting into that "snowballing' of negative thoughts and redirects my thoughts onto him. He makes me feel confident out in public settings that I have not felt comfortable in since I have been out of the military.

He has been a blessing from the first day

I met him.

Telethon Partnership