An Edinburgh vet who studied in the capital has emigrated to Scotland from America, to keep her young daughter safe from school shootings.
With daughter Ivy reaching school age, Karen and husband Matthew Lantrip made the decision to leave their California home. Karen, who studied at a veterinary school in Edinburgh, chose the capital to find work.
Now the family are so settled, 41-year-old Karen has even opened her own family vet clinic, West Edinburgh Vets, in the heart of Corstorphine, reports Edinburgh Live.
Karen and Matthew moved to the USA after meeting at university. Karen began working in emergency night clinics, work she said she loved.
Ivy was born prematurely in 2017 and was on life support. Karen said the youngster is "a fighter" but the experience of almost losing her had a profound impact on them when they began to consider her school life.
She said: “Having her almost die as a baby meant that we were really apprehensive about putting her into an educational setting where guns could be a problem. There were a lot of reasons for leaving America and the politics around Trump definitely didn’t help
“At one point we thought one of us would have to give up our career to homeschool Ivy but then we decided 'why not move back to the UK where there are no guns?'.
"We had always dreamed of making Edinburgh our home so it made sense. I completely fell in love with the city when I was here and I thought at the time this was a place I would like to one day live."
Karen said her goal has been to create a veterinary clinic that has a "family feel" and has treated cats, dogs, hedgehogs and even a bearded dragon since setting up.
She added: "We thought, 'If Edinburgh is going to be our forever home then why not take the leap and set up my own clinic?'
“It truly is a dream come true and in a way it has been easier than I thought it would be but I think that is because I was ready to do it. I absolutely love the community here, everyone has been so friendly and welcoming."
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