An 8-year-old boy suffering with the skin condition vitiligo took a trip across the country to meet a dog with the same condition.
Carter Blanchard of Searcy, Arkansas, was diagnosed with the skin disease, in which the cells that give skin its pigment are destroyed, in 2014 when he was in kindergarten, ABC News reported. The boy quickly became embarrassed about his skin, which developed white patches where the pigment cells were destroyed.
His mother Stephanie Adcock told ABC News that Carter would get into the car after school and tell her “he hated his face and hated the way he looked.” Adcock found a picture of Rowdy, a dog with the same condition as her son, and discovered Rowdy had a social media following because of his unique look.
Carter started following the dog’s story online, and it helped him accept his own disease. “Now he is proud that he was chosen to have vitiligo and he wouldn’t have it any other way,” his mom told ABC. “He thinks that everyone else’s skin is boring.”
Adcock and Niki Umbenhower, Rowdy’s owner, began to email back and forth, and when the story of Carter and Rowdy got on television, a viewer donated $5,000 so Carter could meet Rowdy in person, ABC reported.
Rowdy bonded with Carter immediately and the two enjoyed their time together.
“In all honesty, it was as if they had known each other forever,” Umbenhower said, the Daily Mail reported. “Carter walked right in, took off his jacket, and just knelt down and started petting him.”
Rowdy now has a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses after a seizure he had last week, and also to enable Rowdy to help others with vitiligo like he helped Carter.
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