Family and friends of Julian and Ashton are raising money for the nonprofit Help Hope Live to fund an uninsured medical expense, a service dog.
While Ashton and Julian face different challenges, a service dog has the capacity to help improve the safe and quality of life of both children. Ashton, who suffers from a severe life-threatening contact allergy to nuts and Julian, who faces many challenges to daily functioning related to autism.
Ashton’s severe allergy is further complicated by his diagnosis of asthma putting him at a higher risk of mortality should he have an exposure. We have found ourselves part of a community of wonderful people and parents who unfortunately, live in a constant state of fear that we may lose our children to a threat that we cannot see. The best we can do for our children is to give them every tool we can to keep them safe and to live as normal of a life as possible. While we will always be hypervigilant, a service dog can greatly reduce the risk of contact exposures. Service dogs trained in food allergy odor detection, similar to police narcotics dogs, can detect even the smallest trace of residue or in our case nut protein, on a surface or in a food product. With a service dog trained in this task, Ashton will have access to places and experiences he never has before. Things we take for granted such as going to the movies, to a restaurant, on a plane, to a birthday party, or even going to a relative’s home can be a daunting or impossible feat. Food and other items we bring into our home can be checked for contamination to better ensure we maintain a safe home for Ashton. In addition to odor detection, she will be able to retrieve lifesaving medication in the event of an exposure and to get help.
Updates (1)
February 17, 2024
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