As a mom of four kids and four dogs, Laura Russell has pretty much always had her hands full.
“Our daily life consists of running in the backyard and playing ball,” she laughed.
Russell is a longtime Corgi lover and proud dog mom of her four fur babies: Reecie, Peanut, Buttercup and Boots. But until three years ago, she never imagined she’d be dedicating her days to caring for dogs with special needs.
“We woke up one morning and discovered Buttercup couldn’t move her back legs,” Russell said. “We rushed her to the vet where she underwent surgery because as it turns out, a disc ruptured in her back.”
Even after months of treatment and therapy, Buttercup never fully recovered her mobility. The Russell family was told she would never walk again.
Refusing to let the news get them down, Russell decided to help Buttercup do what she does best: spread joy and cheer to others. Buttercup received her own special set of wheels and got to work.
“Buttercup became a therapy dog a few months after her diagnosis,” Russell said. “She and I would go into an assisted living facility every week, pre-pandemic, and we so enjoyed meeting people and bringing smiles to faces.”
But even with her special wheelchair, Buttercup still had her limitations. For three years, Russell carried Buttercup up and down the deck stairs to their Mooresville, North Carolina backyard – multiple times a day.
“She lost the ability to go to her favorite place in the world, which is the backyard. We had a whole routine where we’d have to suit her up and one of us would have to scoop her up and walk her down to the backyard, which we were happy to do, but we knew there had to be a better way.”
Russell reached out to Lowe’s to see what solutions they might be able to come up with, but never expected the response she got.
Lowe’s decided to take us on and build us a ramp. It gave Buttercup this new mobility and freedom she hasn’t had in three years and it gave us a freedom as well.
“The team was amazing. They worked so well and were so creative. Watching this beautiful ramp come to fruition… I choked back tears several times that day.”
A team of associates from the Lowe’s of Mooresville constructed a ramp that would allow Buttercup to roll herself down into the backyard and back up again, as often as she wants. Something she hasn’t been able to do on her own for three years.
A sight that makes Russell’s heart feel just as full as her hands.
“It’s been amazing to watch her do something that the other dogs can do so easily. And now she can, too.
“This experience has shown us that there are so many kind people in the world, so many kind companies who embody this and help move their community forward with this type of inspiration. And that’s what Lowe’s did for us.”
