Max the Miracle Dog: The Heart-warming Tale of a Life-saving Friendship
£5.70
The Sunday Times bestseller
’Are you ready, Max? If anyone’s going to help me do this, it’s you.’
The heart-warming tale of a life-saving friendship.
In 2006, a traumatic car accident changed Kerry Irving’s life forever.
Suffering from severe neck and back injuries, Kerry was unemployed and housebound, struggling with depression and even thoughts of suicide. He went from cycling over 600 miles a month to becoming a prisoner in his own home.
With hope all but lost, Kerry’s wife encouraged him to go on a short walk to the local shop. In the face of unbearable pain and overwhelming panic, he persevered and along the way, met an adorable yard dog named Max. As the Spaniel peered up through the railings, Kerry found comfort and encouragement in his soulful brown eyes. This chance encounter marked a turning point in both their lives.
In Max, Kerry found comfort and motivation and in Kerry, Max found someone to care for him. This is their remarkable, inspiring story.
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Additional information
| Publisher | HarperElement (5 Mar. 2020) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| File size | 13049 KB |
| Text-to-Speech | Enabled |
| Screen Reader | Supported |
| Enhanced typesetting | Enabled |
| X-Ray | Enabled |
| Word Wise | Enabled |
| Sticky notes | On Kindle Scribe |
| Print length | 246 pages |
by Hazel Johnson
Fabulous read! Especially when read from a caravan in Keswick.
by nigel lovett
Perfect gift for animal lovers
by Mrs. D. M. Smith
I loved reading this book after following Max this past three years I wanted tinted threshold story. I couldn’t put the book down. I read it in one day. Loved it. Looking forward to next one in 2024. Thank you Kerry.
by Peter
It would be difficult to describe this book as nice, simply because it covers very hard Periods in the life of the author. However it does show the love and support given by a four-legged friend.
Having retired due to PTSD, I can identify and I am able to have empathy with the writer. When I first got married we had a Springer Spaniel she was black and white and had a great temperament especially around small children. They say that you need to be crazy to have Springer Spaniels. because they can be very entertaining very loving and as mad as a hatter. Kerry as a young lad experienced the friendship and loyalty of a Springer Spaniel cross with a cocker spaniel. Which helped him to survive his teenage years, while enduring abuse not only from his father but also his stepfather.
He then describes having left home, he later has the good fortune to end up living in a flat within a farm and the pleasure given to him when he got his first Springer Spaniel. Sadly having had to move away from the farm Because of work, he had to rely on neighbours to keep an eye on the dog which later died.
Having personally experienced the loss of a child, that when my Springer Spaniel died I found the pain was nearly as hard. I felt that people who do not have dogs or experienced the love of a dog do not understand how a dog has been part of the family for over 10 to 12 years, can be a very hard experience. I fully understand that Kerri felt this loss so much that he had decided that he would not get another dog. This has been my feelings on a number of occasions, especially having lost our Springer Spaniel, however the family fussed for another dog so eventually we did so. That dog was a golden retriever who very lovely dog and when I had to have her put down I swore that I would never get another dog but like Kerri, after 10 years I have ended up with a cocker spaniel.
The difficulties caused after a road traffic collision with what transpired later as a back injury necessitating a lot of time off work and then in the end the author ended up being unemployed in so much pain that it was difficult to move which in turn causes fear and as in the case of the writer he ended up with severe depression. Fortunately his wife persevered with him ending up making excuses in order to get him out the house. This led to the confidence of being able to take short walks and one of his short walks he met Max as per the title of a book and a very loving animal.
Kerry describes in full the building of a relationship between Max Springer Spaniel and himself to a degree Max was a prop for confidence and after a while Max’s owner ended up having to move and Carrie was fortunate enough to be able to take him on. Kerry Max and his wife Angela have a good fortune to live in the Lake District which is a beautiful part of the United Kingdom. Everywhere he was able to go there are places to walk Max and by the time Max Carrie has managed to retrain and describes the fears to the joys of came his way.Having set up a business he posted a picture of Max on the business website, Which proved to be very popular. As he did this showing beautiful parts of the country and the joy of Max he continues to post on Facebook on his business page pictures of Max until such time as he realises that he needs to set up a Facebook page which he named Max in the Lake District.
The book is very gripping in places and thankfully very readable making it hard to put it down. The author then gets the urge to get another dog, so in due course another Springer Spaniel puppy who was named Harry after Prince Harry and bearing in mind how Prince Harry came out in the open about his suffering from depression. At some point Kerry started to video their walks which usually lasts about 10 to 15 minutes, And upload them to Facebook.The author has described the messages of the letters that he receives where people describe their issues with depression and anxiety.
All this is picked up by the PDSA which is one of the charities that has received monies from the charity walks and for the first time in the history they awarded Max with a canine award often described as a canine OBE.This is how I became aware of Max, And living through Covid in North Africa it has been uplifting to be out of set and see the English countryside at its best with three mad Springer Spaniel is as company. I’m very grateful to the author for sharing his walks and I’m not alone in saying that they can brighten the darkest of days. The book really is worth reading.
by david canford
If you like dogs or uplifting feel good accounts, you’ll enjoy this one. The author finds a way to cope with chronic pain through a new way of living when he befriends a dog, and also finds ways to enrich the lives of others who are battling their own misfortunes. It really is a lovely tale. My only gripe is the poor editing by the professional publisher. The word “just” appears on virtually every other line in several parts of the book and is quite off putting when reading the narrative.
by Tim
We have fallen in love with max
by Ms.C
An enchanting read ~ truly amazing what dogs can do ~ I have highly recommended it to my friends. Excellent read.
by Amazon Customer
This a moving and ultimately a happy story.
I Love watching Kerry’s Facebook posts each day.
The dogs all have such happy and engaging personalities.