Donald Dickerson considers his dog to be his best friend, and he is willing to sacrifice practically anything for him. ‘Every day when he looks at me, I know that I am cherished. I gave him the name Duude since that’s what I call my friend. We have a very tight, very close relationship.’ The couple’s connection has grown stronger over the last several months as they have struggled to find housing.
Dickerson, who spends his days and nights at a campground in the woods outside of Greensboro, North Carolina, together with his dog, said: “He’s been there with me.” The most shocking aspect of this story is that the guy had the option of getting a better roof over his head, but doing so would require him to give up Duude in the process. As a result, he decided to decline the offer in order to spend more time with his dog.
‘Despite the fact that I could have already found a place to live, they insisted on my giving up my dog. I’m not going to do that,’ Dickerson, who unfortunately suffers from health issues in addition to being homeless, stated his feelings. His swelling knee has been causing him a great deal of discomfort for quite some time. ‘ It’s excruciating. Every day, I have to go up and down this hill,’ he said.
Dickerson now need a partial knee replacement surgery, which he had scheduled months ago, but doctors told him they couldn’t operate on him quite yet. ‘The doctors said we have to postpone it till you find a place to live because someone needs to come out and take care of you,’ he added.
He hasn’t been able to locate a house that would accept both him and his little Duude, unfortunately. But it hasn’t stopped him from giving it his all. ‘I’m not going to give up on him,’ he said emphatically. Dickerson, on the other hand, is prepared to give up the operation if it means saying goodbye to his dog. ‘I will be homeless and go without surgery if I have to, because I will not abandon him,’ he said.
‘It takes that unique person because they care more about anybody else than themselves,’ Lane Miller, who was deeply moved by Miller’s sacrifice, said. After meeting Dickerson every day on her way to work on Wendover Avenue, Miller formed a connection with him.
Watch the video interview here: