This is a truly heartwarming video of how a starving and abandoned Pit bull mix was healed by her rescuer, and later on returned the favor and helped him heal from a family tragedy.

Judy's guardian writes: "This is Judy, an amazing animal. She appeared on my doorstep barely able to move and dying of starvation. This Pit bull mix puppy lay down on my porch to give up the fight. Knowing the reputation of the breed---Killers, stupid, untrainable---I was a phone call away from having her picked up and taken to a shelter. In her condition, she would have certainly been euthanized. After a phone call to my sister, a lover and believer in all animals, I decided to try and help this puppy."

Judy's guardian adds to her story, that his sister later commited suicide and that "The last gift she gave me was the confidence that if I could get Judy back to health, she would probably be the most loyal friend I could ever have. She was right." 

"I did not know that by saving her, I was saving myself from a downward spiral of grief over my sister's suicide," he writes. "Sometimes the words "they're in a better place" do not satisfy and comfort can only be had in the presence of a primal understanding. "Will you throw that ball again?"

"Sometimes you don't pick the dog...the dog picks you."

• Pit Bull
• rescue