Community
Visalia Student receives service dog thanks to the Visalia Breakfast Rotary Club
Ashley Woods, a junior at Redwood High School, has a rare, progressive and incurable disease called Chronic Systemic Sarcoidosis. Ashley has spent most of her young life in and out of doctor’s offices and hospitals for treatments. No child/young adult should have to endure this kind of disease.
This rare disease is characterized by the growth of tiny collections of inflammatory cells called granulomas that affect every part of the body, especially the lungs and lymph nodes. It can also affect the eyes, skin, heart and other organs.
Ashley lives every day with a multitude of life-altering issues, which can affect her blood pressure and heart rate. Dizzy spells and blackouts, also known as syncope are also common.
A single mom, Dana, who has been taking care of Ashley since birth, had to give up her full-time job as Ashley’s disease progressed in order to care for her. Dana was scared to even leave Ashley alone for a moment. Dana believed a service dog would be helpful with Ashley’s care. A Veterinary Technician by training, Dana reached out to a friend about the Assistance Service Dog Education Center in Woodlake, CA. This was a non-profit so the cost of a service dog would be cheaper than adopting. This is where Ashley met Mae. However, this was a large amount of money especially for a single mom.
Now that they found Mae, Ashley and her mom needed to raise $15,000.00 to purchase Mae. Dana, who has fought for her daughter on social-media time after time, decided to start a “GoFundMe” campaign on their “Fight With Ashley” Facebook page. The campaign was titled “Bring Mae Home”!
After a year of fundraising, they reached nearly $6,800 of their $15,000 goal when the pandemic struck and donations came to a halt.
Visalia Attorney, Dale Bruder happened to be in the room the day that Ashley and Mae bonded. Dale, a member of the Visalia Breakfast Rotary Club, spoke with Ashley and Dana and recognized the urgency of getting Mae into Ashley’s home. Bruder reached out to club president Mark Brackett with an email detailing the situation.
“Upon reading the message, I knew it was a situation I wanted to support and believed our board would come to the same conclusion,” Brackett said. The request came in on Sept. 13, and on September 15th the request was approved for the remaining amount Ashley and her mom needed, $8,500! This amount also included an additional $300 to go toward dog food and veterinary services.
Dale Bruder broke the good news during training at ASDEC. "I fell to my knees, embracing Mae,” Ashley said. “I started to cry, everyone in the room was in tears.”
Mae can open and close doors, turn on and off lights, alert to a medical episode, retrieve medications, and pull Ashley’s wheelchair. Ashley’s mom no longer has to check on Ashley constantly, worried about her needs during the day. Mae will provide Ashley with a more independent life as she transitions into adulthood on her own.