April 19, 2024

My name is Ashlyn Wood. I’m a 22-year-old student studying Book Arts and hand papermaking at the University of Alabama, and I have dysautonomia and Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome. When I’m not having impromptu floor time, I love to crochet, bedazzle, and fight monsters on my D&D podcast!

I’ve been mostly isolated for the last several years because it’s difficult for me to know when my symptoms are going to flare and handle them when I’m not home.

This usually leaves me lying on the grocery store or Student Center floor, desperately willing my heart rate to go down so I can stand up and get to my car or a bench without passing out.

My doctors and I have decided that the best next step toward regaining my independence is to get a cardiac alert and task-trained service dog, to alert me before my symptoms flare and help me get to a safe place to manage them.

Thank you so much for reading this and donating, so that I can once again be a strong(-minded), independent person who can go grocery shopping by herself, and live a life that *is* for the faint of heart!