The following story was submitted to the From Woofs to Wonders Photo and Story contest. The top three finishers received a $250 Animal Rescue Site store shopping spree, as well as $2,000 in cash and supplies for their favorite shelter. To read more stories, click here!

Helen was found in the woods behind a neighborhood. She was malnourished, injured, and appeared to have issues seeing. Her eyeballs were swollen, cloudy and red, so caregivers immediately took her to the vet. The vet gave her multiple medications to try and help her eyes get better.

PHOTO: CAMIE RODGERS

After a month of check-ups and medications, her eyes looked better and didn’t appear to cause her any pain, but the vets still didn’t think she could see much. Despite her apparent blindness, Helen fooled her caregivers with her lovable and playful antics! She would walk around, jump, climb and even “watch” out the window with the confidence and ease of a seeing cat.

The Animal Rescue Center brought her into their foster program and took over her vetting. She went to a veterinary vision specialist who confirmed she was, in fact, completely blind, and her vision would never return. The vet suspected from the external injuries she had when she was found, a BB or pellet was shot into her head and was what injured her eyes. The optical vet recommended that she have both eyes removed (enucleation) to avoid post-traumatic sarcomas forming, which is an aggressive form of cancer.

At her next vet visit for her preoperative exam, the vet took an x-ray to see if the pellet was still in her skull, since there were no obvious exit wounds. It was, along with many other pellets lodged in her skull, jaw and body. This poor girl was shot either multiple times or with buckshot and somehow survived alone in the woods until someone helped her!

PHOTO: CAMIE RODGERS

As of right now, Helen is in a wonderful foster home where she gets all the love and affection she could want. She is on the waiting list for enucleation, which should happen before the end of the year. A double enucleation will be painful and comes with a long recovery, but Helen has shown us that she is a survivor, and we know she will be much happier and healthier without the risk of any cancer or other complications in her eyes.

Despite all the terrible things Helen has been through, she is a healthy and happy girl who absolutely LOVES people! She is an expert biscuit-maker, enjoys playing with all kinds of toys, loves to snuggle and “look” out the windows! She is a true survivor and amazingly resilient!

PHOTO: CAMIE RODGERS

The Animal Refuge Center makes a huge difference in the lives of animals every day, Helen’s is one story of transformation and strength that keeps the rescue, caregiver and animal-loving community going!

This story was submitted by Camie Rodgers in support of Animal Refuge Center Inc. To read other stories from the From Woofs to Wonders Photo and Story contest, click here!