Josh Marino was a combat veteran, and like all combat veterans had seen some terrible things in the line of duty. On top of that, he’d suffered a brain injury during a mortar attack. When he came home, he wasn’t doing well. His experience and injuries left him with physical and mental problems, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). Every day, Josh woke up to his own living hell. He couldn’t focus on things most of us handle with ease and was easily frightened and angered.
Eventually it was too much for Josh to bear. He just couldn’t go on living like that. One night he decided to end it all. When he went out to enjoy a final cigarette, something unexpected happened. He heard something moving in the shrubbery near his house, then there was a little meow, and a black-and-white kitten emerged. “He just walked up and started rubbing up against my leg and let me pet him. I broke down crying, burst into tears. Maybe he knew there was something I couldn’t quite handle.” Josh began going out regularly, summoning the kitten, who he’d named Scout, giving him food and a knee to nap on. “I stopped thinking about all my problem and I started thinking about all his problems.”
But one day, Scout stopped showing up. That’s when Josh really grasped that this little feline angel had saved his life. A few months later, he and his girlfriend went to the Fort Riley Stray Animal Shelter to adopt a cat. “All of a sudden a little black and white paw shoots out from a crate and starts smacking me in my left arm. I looked inside, it is the same little black and white cat. I opened up that cage, and I pulled him out, and I held him tight.” Needless to say, they adopted him!
Check out the video posted below to learn more about Josh and Scout’s amazing story and let us know what you thought in the Facebook comments. Be sure to like and share this heartwarming and inspirational story!
