Boy and his service dog make Iowa history

IOWA -- Tyler Gerdts, a junior at Davenport West High School, has been running cross country for five years. He was born with a brain injury and has autism, but he found a passion for running and didn’t let his disability stop him.

This season, he and his friends have a new addition to the team, Hugo, Tyler’s service dog.

Tyler got Hugo in April. This young K-9 is trained to smell gases since Tyler does not have a sense of smell. Hugo also helps him with anxiety. He also is trained to track, in case Tyler wanders off.

Tyler said, “Out of all the friends I have, he would probably be the number one.”

   

 

 

On Saturday, Tyler and Hugo together attended a large cross country meet at Crow Creek Park in Bettendorf. The duo ran the last race of the meet, a 5k.

“As soon as he hears his name being cheered on, boy, he takes off like crazy and he really wants people to be proud,” said his mom, Kelley Gerdts. And “proud” is exactly what Tyler did, marking two milestones already this season.

Tyler Gerdts is the first student athlete in the state of Iowa to run a cross country meet with a service dog. Kelley and her family found this out as they were going through the process of getting Hugo on the team.

The second milestone — Tyler ran his personal best on Saturday with  Hugo by his side; 28:22 personal record.

 

“I’m just very proud of him just because his perseverance is inspiring,” said Kelley. Tyler’s parents and younger sister and brother were all there to cheer him on, along with the his teammates and coaches at Davenport West.

(KWQC - Sept 5, 2015)