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Story of 'wonder dog' and disabled owner to be a film
THE story of an incredible bond between a disabled former Royal Navy officer and his helper dog is to be turned into a film.
Allen Parton, of Clanfield, Hampshire, was confined to a wheelchair after suffering a head injury during the first Gulf War.
The Canine Partners charity trained Endal, a labrador who died in March, to assist Mr Parton with everyday chores from picking items off a supermarket shelf to using a cashpoint and more recently chip and pin machines.
The dog saved his life when he was involved in a car crash in 2001, earning a gold award from the People's Dispensary for Sick Animals (PDSA), its equivalent of the Victoria Cross, for putting Mr Parton in the recovery position, covering him in a blanket, bringing him his mobile phone and barking for help. Mr Endal also credits the labrador with helping to save his marriage.
Now film producer Simon Brooks has bought the rights to the couple's book Endal: How One Extraordinary Dog Brought a Family Back from the Brink.
Juliette Towhidi, who wrote the film Calendar Girls, is writing the script and filming is hoped to start late next summer.
Mr Brooks, who has previously produced films such as White Noise starring Michael Keaton, said: "It's an incredibly inspirational story.
"I caught the last six or seven minutes of a documentary about Endal and was enthralled by it."
He added that once a script was ready, he would approach stars such as Kate Winslet and Rachel Weisz to play Mrs Parton and Colin Firth or Michael Sheen to play Mr Parton.
Mr Parton said: "I am absolutely delighted. When I came back from the Gulf War, I had lost my memory, I couldn't read, write or walk and our marriage went through hard times but my wife didn't give up on me.
"Then Endal bounded into our lives and the rest is history."
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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