Wauwatosa teen uses Make-A-Wish request to train therapy dog to help others

 

WAUWATOSA, Wis. (CBS 58) -- A Wauwatosa teenager who is battling a life-threatening illness is making sure he helps others.

Sixteen-year-old Kyle Hansen is living with Hodgkin's Lymphoma.

Make-A-Wish Wisconsin granted him a wish, and Kyle's was to get his dog, a poodle named Copper, trained as a therapy dog.

Copper now has the required training.

Kyle says seeing his dog while he was in the hospital helped him, and he wants others to experience that too.

"Because I didn't want to do a wish where I went and bought a ton of stuff for myself," Kyle said. "I wanted to do something that would be like meaningful, and I'd already experienced how much it meant."

Kyle, Copper and their family went on a shopping spree at Back N' Scratch Outpost on Bluemound Road Thursday night to pick up some special treats and toys for Copper.