Emma Reardon had learned to live with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome — a lifelong connective tissue disorder — while holding down a full-time career and raising her child in Carmarthen.
Then the pandemic hit. She was struck down with long Covid, and later diagnosed with heart failure. The triple blow left the 53-year-old — who sometimes uses a wheelchair or mobility scooter — struggling to hold on to the life she had built.
“My illness zapped me of my confidence and stopped me in my tracks,” said Emma, a former social care manager who now works part-time as director of a non-profit autism organisation. “I went from being someone who was full-time employed and a full-time mum to someone who’s now working part time because of my health.”
“A combination of all these conditions meant I couldn’t live the lifestyle I had before,” she added.
She got her Red Fox Labrador, Jeff, as a six-month-old pup — partly to feel less isolated. It was the beginning of something neither of them knew they needed.
“He did start getting me out, and I realised how much he loved to work,” she said.
After spotting a Support Dogs advert on social media in late 2024, Emma applied to the national charity, which trains and provides assistance dogs free of charge for people with autism, epilepsy and physical conditions. Jeff spent a month at their training centre, cared for by volunteer foster families on evenings and weekends.
Emma then joined him for two weeks of handler training, and the pair spent the following nine months putting everything into practice back home in Wales.
Jeff is now trained to act as Emma’s personal carer around the clock. He accompanies her to work and hospital appointments, presses access buttons and opens doors — a particular help when Emma is using her wheelchair or scooter — and retrieves dropped items including her mobile phone.
“He picks things up I drop, because bending over is difficult for me,” said Emma. “And he helps me on and off with my jacket and my socks and gloves.”
But the impact goes well beyond the practical tasks. Emma’s disability is not always visible to others — and Jeff changes that.
“Sometimes people assume I’m Jeff’s trainer, because my disability isn’t visible,” she said. “So having Jeff means people do recognise that I might need a bit of space, or a bit of help.”
She said simply having him by her side gives her a confidence she had lost entirely.
“Those are the tasks he’s trained in, but more than that, just having him with me means when I go out I just feel more confident,” she said. “It’s two-fold — I could look like I’m fine when I’m not fine.”
Emma described the experience of having Jeff trained as life-changing. “It’s got me out and about. It’s got me taking part in life much more and feeling much less defined by my illness or disability,” she said. “Having Jeff, it’s about what I can do now, whereas before, it was about lots of things I found I couldn’t do. I can’t thank Support Dogs enough.” Support Dogs relies entirely on voluntary donations to provide its services free of charge. Anyone who would like to find out more or support the charity can visit supportdogs.org.uk.
