Service Dog Helps Woman Survive Multiple Cancers Before Film Career
Years before Onyx entered her life, the writer lost a dog to cancer. After some time passed, the decision was made to bring another dog home, specifically a Goldendoodle. The writer and her husband, Eddie Floyd Jr., visited a local Humane Society to look, not to adopt that day. As they pulled into the parking lot, a family was bringing in a dog to surrender. The writer asked what kind of dog he was. The family told her he was a Goldendoodle. That dog was Onyx.
A Service Dog and a Source of Comfort
The writer decided to train Onyx as a service dog due to her health challenges. Through online courses and continued hands-on training, he learned to alert her when she was experiencing heart-related problems, asthma issues, and seizures. The writer did not know how much more she would need him.
Later, the writer faced breast cancer, kidney cancer, and ovarian cancer. At one point, she was placed on hospice and told that she had approximately four to eight months to live. Those words changed the way she heard everything. They changed how she thought about time, family, fear, and what it means to keep going when she did not know what was ahead.
Onyx stayed beside her through it all. He helped her physically as a service dog, but the emotional support he gave her was just as important. There were days when she was tired, frightened, and overwhelmed. Onyx gave her companionship, routine, comfort, and a reason to keep moving forward. He did not understand medical reports or timelines. He simply knew she was his person, and he stayed.
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From Survival Story to Silver Screen
Today, their story has taken an unexpected turn. Onyx is now an actor, community ambassador, and the official canine star of an upcoming family holiday film called Wishbone Christmas, being developed in St. Louis through FEG – Floyd Entertainment Group. The writer wrote and produces the film, and her husband directs and produces it.
The movie is exciting, but for the writer, the heart of Onyx’s story will always be what came before the cameras. Before he became part of a film, he was already part of a survival story. The writer’s cancer journey taught her that support can come from places she never expected. It can come from family, from medical professionals, from friends, and sometimes from an animal who becomes woven into her daily life in ways she could never have planned.
Onyx helped the writer through some of the most difficult moments she has ever faced. Now she gets to watch him step into a joyful new chapter. This change means everything to her. If there is one thing she would say to another person facing cancer, it is this: hold on to whatever gives you a reason to keep moving. It may be a person, a purpose, a pet, a promise, or simply the decision to make it through one more day. For her, one of those reasons had four paws and a name: Onyx.
