‘I wouldn’t have believed it’: B.C. father comforted by visits from late daughter’s favourite animal

Adam tells the story of a B.C. father who lost his daughter and the surprising visitors who started showing up after she was gone on CTV Your Morning Vancouver

ESQUIMALT, B.C. — Troy Townsin will never forget the day he surprised his daughter Lexi with the dog he’s now walking, named Max.

“Oh! What?!” Troy smiles imitating her reaction. “Unbelievable!”

Before welcoming a real dog, Lexi’s big loves were little stuffed animals, specifically one owl.

“I’m six years older than you,” Lexi says in a video showing her cradling the owl. “You’re still a baby.”

“I don’t know if she ever saw a real owl in her life,” Troy says. “But she surrounded herself with owls.”

She had owl pictures and an owl bedspread in her bedroom, hung her owl shaped handprint art in the living room, Lexi always brought her owl to the hospital.

“They put in the needle,” Lexi says to her owl in another video. “And take out the bad stuff.”

Lexi was diagnosed with the ultra-rare Blau syndrome, which filled her body with debilitating and painful inflammation. Max was bought to be Lexi’s therapy dog and ended up being her best friend.

“I remember sometimes she would be crying,” Troy says. “And then she would look over at Max and then she would start laughing.”

“He made my dreams come true,” Lexi says in a video showing her cuddled close to Max.

The two were inseparable until Lexi’s unexpected death shortly before her seventh birthday pulled them apart.

“[Max] has always been looking for her ever since,” Troy says.

Five years since they lost Lexi, Max still runs to her room when he returns home.

“He’ll just sit there looking at something that we can’t see,” Troy says.

While Troy and his family started turning their pain into purpose by launching the Cure Blau Syndrome Foundation, they also never stopped looking for Lexi.

“One day, I said I wish she would give us a sign that she’s around,” Troy says.

About two hours later, an owl appeared on their back deck.

Although they’d never seen an owl anywhere near their house before, Troy says this one stayed looking at them for more than an hour.

“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Troy smiles. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it.”

Ever since, Troy says owls have visited their house on birthdays, anniversaries, and any day they need it most.

“Oh my God!” Troy can be heard saying in one of the multiple videos they’ve shot of owls appearing unexpectedly. “That’s amazing!”

Troy is sharing stories about himself and Lexi on social media and the website Lexi’s Legacy.

“When they’re gone, maybe they’re not really gone,” Troy says. “Maybe they’re still there and we just need to look a little harder.”

And maybe on those days we don’t see signs — like the day Max ran to Lexi’s room and couldn’t find her, so Troy gave him Lexi’s housecoat, which the dog curled up in for hours — we can find comfort in helping others.

“Love wins. Love comes through. That’s what I get from it,” Troy smiles. “She might be gone but love isn’t.