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Your donation will help to provide dogs to many
adults who suffer from disabilities that impair their
mobility.

My name is Kathleen and I'm 19 years old.
2 years ago I was diagnosed with Intracranial Hypertension (AKA
Pseudotumor Cerebri). IH is a brain disease that causes too much spinal
fluid in my skull; instead of the fluid cushioning my brain it crushes it.
Right now, there is no cure for IH so I’m regulated by medicine, but that
doesn't always work. I also need to go under spinal taps/lumbar
punctures to drain the excess fluid. When my pressure is high, which is
often, I get extreme vertigo without warning and end up falling over. I don’t
go out anymore unless someone is next to me because I fall multiple
times in a day.

It was difficult switching from my very active lifestyle of horseback riding,
ballroom dancing, and hanging out with friends. I can't even go to the gym
or ride a bike. I’m a full time college student majoring in Zoology. I tend to
go a little slower in classes due to being sick so often and it can get
overwhelming.

A service dog will be able to help me with my balance and keep me from
falling. Adding a service dog to my life will give me my independence so I
can go out by myself and not be so afraid that I won't have someone
there to keep me safe.

Thank you so much!

My name is Jessica and I am 25 years old. When I was born I was
premature and only weighed 2 pounds 4 ounces at birth. Due to my
premature birth I developed Cerebral Palsy.

After I was born my parents and the doctors noticed some physical
delays. I started to walk at age three, and talked at age one. My walking
didn’t develop due to my Cerebral Palsy and I have spent my life in a
wheelchair.

Some of my favorite things to do when I was little was to watch Sesame
Street. I liked watching my sister do her hair and makeup. I liked to play
with dolls with my mom, dad, and sister.

In elementary school my favorite teacher was Miss Kelly. She took the
time to take me to sixth grade camp and always showed me that she
cared about me. Outside of school I played challenger little league
softball for a number of years.

In 1999, I was granted a wish from the Make A Wish Foundation to go to
Disney World in Orlando Florida. My entire family went with me and we
had a wonderful time.

During my middle school years we started to notice my hip was slowly
coming out of its socket, which gave me severe pain. I was able to go on
to high school and attend half of my freshman year. After that the doctors
decided to do a hip reconstruction and I was scheduled to be in a full
body cast for eight weeks in which I had a home school teacher.

After the cast was taken off, the doctors noticed a severe curving of my
spine and I was unable to sit in my wheelchair so I remained in home
schooling for the next two and a half years during which time I had
surgery for scoliosis. They placed two steel rods on either side of my
spine; they used screws to attach it to the pelvis and wire to weave it all
together. After the doctors straightened out my spine with the surgery
they noticed that my tailbone was sticking out of my skin. They then told
me it would be wise to take it out but wanted to wait a little while until I
rebuilt my immune system and had a chance to heal from the surgery. At
a later date they removed my broken tailbone. I have also had several
more operations since my tailbone was removed.

I have taken on a new passion for Charity work. I have teamed up with my
Angel Eve Selis who is a local singer here in San Diego and we have
raised over Ten Thousand dollars for breast cancer research. 3 years
ago we also started hosting a Benefit Concert to help raise funds for the
Local Chapter of United Cerebral Palsy and The Kaiser Pediatric Unit
Rainforest Renovation, They basically transformed the Pediatric Unit into
the rainforest so that the children and fight their illnesses in a warm and
happy place. We are also going to move the Rainforest Renovation into
other hospitals so that all children can have a happy place to heal.

In the coming years I hope to persue my career as A Motivational
Speaker, I just want to get the word out to everyone that you can do
anything you want to do! I have spoken on Television, at Business
Meetings, and at Schools. My Motto Is “If You Believe It, You Can Achieve
It!” I really do stand by my motto. Who you think that someone in a
wheelchair could walk across a stage using a walker probably yes, but
how about someone doing that without hips? Or what about someone in a
wheelchair flying a plane? Or getting a friendship Tattoo? Well I’ve done
all those things and I’m not even closed to being finished, I want to learn
to surf, jump out of a plane and much more! When I do Motivational
Speaking I try to get across to people what even though I am in a
wheelchair I try to take the “Dis” out of Disability. After all, If You Believe it,
You Can Achieve It. Right?

Help support those
with mobility disabilities today!