A disabled woman who attended her graduation ceremony along with her service dog – who was also dressed in a cap and gown – has seen pictures of the proud event go viral.
The image was apparently taken during a ceremony on Saturday at the College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Illinois and was posted to Reddit by user tcjones54, with the comment: “The girl and the dog received the loudest applause hands down. Very adorable.”
The heart-warming snap received a huge response with a stream of comments along the lines of: “This picture is everything that is right in the world.”
Though the young woman’s identity is not known, a day after the first picture went viral, she posted another of her and her pooch in matching caps and gowns, also taken on the big day.
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"This is my service dog, Hero, after we graduated with our Master's degrees at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign," she wrote in a caption accompanying this Imgur photo.
On Reddit, when asked how Hero fared during the day, she explained: “He loved it! He loved all the attention too! When we were walking outside to reunite with my family, we were stopped every 10 feet for pictures by random people that loved his cap and gown! He was like a celebrity, I think he realised it was a special day!”
Posting as user f3b14, she added: “Hero knows over forty commands to assist me! He loves to retrieve objects for me like envelopes, pens, my crutches etc. He also turns off the lights, opens doors, and he pulls me in my wheelchair up ramps! I couldn’t have gone to college without him!”