Service Dog for Reece
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Warrior's Heart Ranch is a newly founded non-profit organization by two life long friends, one a Major in the Army Special Forces and the other a dual purpose Police K9 Handler, which specializes in equine therapy and the training and placing of service dogs with first responders and veterans living with service related trauma, as well as, children with special needs.
Warrior's Heart Ranch is looking to raise money to provide Reece, a 9 year old boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), with a fully trained service dog. Reece's condition has left him to the confines of a powered wheelchair and a service dog will be able to assist him with his day to day tasks, as well as, greatly improve his outlook on life.
Please help us help Reece to keep his head up and moving forward: Remember a true warrior is one who is faced with obstacles in their life and despite the ease of quitting, they continue to wake each day with a positive outlook and a desire to finish that day better then the last.
Let's help Reece!
With permission to share, below is the letter Warrior's Heart Ranch received from Reece's parents, Keith and Kayla....
In October, we went to have our fall family photos and our photographer asked if we wanted Reece in his power chair for the photos. An odd question some might think. Except when she last took our family photos in the Spring, Reece was still walking. So, naturally our answer was of course. This is our life.
This is his life. He is now in the power chair all the time. There is no manipulating or changing that. Our perfect little 9lb 1 oz baby boy was born March 20, 2007. He was the easiest baby of our three. He never really cried or fussed. He was perfect. When he was 15 months old he still wasn’t walking without holding on to something. He was “cruising”.
Then, he started to fall more and more. He had multiple ear infections and had tubes put in his ears before he was even a year old. So I thought he just had vertigo or fluid on his ears making walking difficult and causing the falls.
I scheduled an appointment and took him in to see his pediatrician. Next thing we know, we’re having labs drawn and being sent to see a geneticist and pediatric neurologist. When Reece was 18 months old he was diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The Muscular Dystrophy Association lists the definition for Duchenne’s as “a genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.” It is one of 9 types of muscular dystrophy.
DMD is caused by an absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact. The disease primarily affects boys, but in rare cases it can affect girls.
There is currently no cure and until recently there were no medications available for the treatment of this awful disease. The FDA has recently approved a new medication for the treatment of Duchenne’s and we are hopeful that with continued support of the MDA and ongoing clinical trials there will soon be more treatments available and possibly even a cure.
Our family has been through a lot. In February of 2015 we had a house fire. It was a total loss. All our possession’s, our clothes, our 2 family dogs gone. It was absolutely devastating. It took us until November of that year to get into what is now our permanent home.
In February of 2016, Reece was still walking and screened for a clinical trial in Charlotte in which he met all the criteria easily. He was a shoe-in for the clinical trial and would have been able to begin receiving the newly approved medication a year ago. The following Sunday after we got home from the screening for the trial he fell and broke his ankle. He was casted and was unable to bear any weight on his right leg for 6 weeks.
When he was released for weight bearing in the 7th week he refused to bear weight mostly for fear that he would fall again. During the time that he was non-weight bearing on the fractured right leg, he wasn’t strong enough due to muscle weakness to stand on his left. Therefore, he lost natural weight bearing which we get when we stand or walk.
We were also unable to stretch the right leg leading to significant contractures in both of his ankles. Having good range of motion at the ankles is important for our ability to walk and decreasing our risk for falling. Factoring in the extra muscle weakness from weeks of being stuck in a wheelchair and you’re really going to have a hard time re-gaining the ability to walk again.
With a diagnosis of DMD, it makes a situation like this even more complex. With therapy, Reece was able to re-gain the ability to walk. First, with a walker. Next, with hand-held assist. Finally, on his own again. However, not for any more than 10-15 feet at a time and not without a risk of falling again. See, along with all the other complications of DMD doctors prescribe steroids.
Prolonged use of steroids means added weight gain which in turns weighs down your body. All that added weight on a child with DMD makes walking that much more difficult. Not only do you add the weight gain, but prednisone (the most commonly used steroid in boys with DMD) sucks the calcium and vitamin D out of your bones. Then, your bones start to deteriorate increasing your risk for fractures.
Reece was able to walk through the summer up until September. In early September he fell again injuring his knee and from that day never took another step. Just like that my 9 year old son had took his last step. He would become completely wheelchair dependent that day. You think you can prepare yourself and be ready when that day comes. Truly, that is absolutely impossible. You can in no way be prepared.
You’ll look back and wish as a parent that you would’ve taken more trips, taken more pictures/videos. There are so many things that you would change. Hindsight is 20/20. In saying that, we do our best. We participate in therapy. We advocate for him in school. We take him to see the best doctors. We get him the best doctors. We get him all the equipment he needs. But then he asked for a service dog.
We talked about it and then I spent some time online looking around. I looked everywhere. Every organization had a different set of rules/requirements. Each organization also had a different price tag upwards of $20,000. We immediately knew that it wasn’t an option. It was heart breaking for him. He just started an antidepressant December after he had battled significant depression.
This past year has just been so life-changing for him. His body is failing him and I can only imagine what that’s like to try and process at the tender age of 9. We have tried counseling but he refused to talk to her. It was pointless. So, when he asked for a service dog we thought maybe it could be therapeutic for him. A companion of his own. A dog who could help with some of his most basic needs but that could also be a friend.
We were so disheartened when we realized what an impossibility it was to get one. We don’t have $20,000+ laying around to be able to afford a service dog nor did he meet most of the age requirements for some of the organizations that we looked at.
I had to leave my job almost 2 years ago in order to care for Reece and our household. His appointments became so frequent and meetings at school so often necessary to make adaptations to his surroundings that it just became impossible for me to maintain a my full-time position as a therapist in a skilled nursing facility and fulfill my most important role as the mother to a child with special needs.
We have to travel quite a bit for appointments, therapies, braces, etc that our gas and food expenses are quite draining on us financially. We also need to add an addition onto our house so that we can even further accommodate Reece’s growing need for more and larger equipment. Anything, that we could potentially save would have to go directly to the home improvements to increase his quality of life and independence within our home.
So, when we were contacted by Mr. Agustin you can imagine how excited we became! We didn’t even tell him at first. I felt like we had already broken his heart when we told him that getting him a service dog wouldn’t be possible. We didn’t want to get his hopes up only to crush them again. He is a wonderful kid. He’s an excellent brother. He loves his brother and sister dearly. He loves having his cousins and friends over. He loves to cook with me in the evening.
I can’t imagine how it must feel though at times to be completely surrounded by kids who can do everything that you can’t. He has no playground access so he stays inside at school during Recess and plays the computer. He hasn’t been in a bouncy house in over 3 years. We don’t often visit a park because they aren’t designed to be handicapped accessible. That can be hard for our younger 2 children, Dawson whom is 6 and Claire who is 7 to understand because of course they’d love to go to the park and play.
There are so many things we have to think about when decided to go to certain functions or vacations, etc. As a family, we conquer it all. There are no regrets or hard feelings. From his perspective, I can’t fathom that the inconveniences of our lives, are even comparable to the inconveniences of his. So, I write this letter as an advocate for my wonderful son. Please help him to have the opportunity to have a service dog, a friend. A dog that will by loved, appreciated, and taken well care of by our family.
With the warmest regards,
Keith and Kayla Beasley
Warrior's Heart Ranch is looking to raise money to provide Reece, a 9 year old boy with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD), with a fully trained service dog. Reece's condition has left him to the confines of a powered wheelchair and a service dog will be able to assist him with his day to day tasks, as well as, greatly improve his outlook on life.
Please help us help Reece to keep his head up and moving forward: Remember a true warrior is one who is faced with obstacles in their life and despite the ease of quitting, they continue to wake each day with a positive outlook and a desire to finish that day better then the last.
Let's help Reece!
With permission to share, below is the letter Warrior's Heart Ranch received from Reece's parents, Keith and Kayla....
In October, we went to have our fall family photos and our photographer asked if we wanted Reece in his power chair for the photos. An odd question some might think. Except when she last took our family photos in the Spring, Reece was still walking. So, naturally our answer was of course. This is our life.
This is his life. He is now in the power chair all the time. There is no manipulating or changing that. Our perfect little 9lb 1 oz baby boy was born March 20, 2007. He was the easiest baby of our three. He never really cried or fussed. He was perfect. When he was 15 months old he still wasn’t walking without holding on to something. He was “cruising”.
Then, he started to fall more and more. He had multiple ear infections and had tubes put in his ears before he was even a year old. So I thought he just had vertigo or fluid on his ears making walking difficult and causing the falls.
I scheduled an appointment and took him in to see his pediatrician. Next thing we know, we’re having labs drawn and being sent to see a geneticist and pediatric neurologist. When Reece was 18 months old he was diagnosed with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy (DMD). The Muscular Dystrophy Association lists the definition for Duchenne’s as “a genetic disorder characterized by progressive muscle degeneration and weakness.” It is one of 9 types of muscular dystrophy.
DMD is caused by an absence of dystrophin, a protein that helps keep muscle cells intact. The disease primarily affects boys, but in rare cases it can affect girls.
There is currently no cure and until recently there were no medications available for the treatment of this awful disease. The FDA has recently approved a new medication for the treatment of Duchenne’s and we are hopeful that with continued support of the MDA and ongoing clinical trials there will soon be more treatments available and possibly even a cure.
Our family has been through a lot. In February of 2015 we had a house fire. It was a total loss. All our possession’s, our clothes, our 2 family dogs gone. It was absolutely devastating. It took us until November of that year to get into what is now our permanent home.
In February of 2016, Reece was still walking and screened for a clinical trial in Charlotte in which he met all the criteria easily. He was a shoe-in for the clinical trial and would have been able to begin receiving the newly approved medication a year ago. The following Sunday after we got home from the screening for the trial he fell and broke his ankle. He was casted and was unable to bear any weight on his right leg for 6 weeks.
When he was released for weight bearing in the 7th week he refused to bear weight mostly for fear that he would fall again. During the time that he was non-weight bearing on the fractured right leg, he wasn’t strong enough due to muscle weakness to stand on his left. Therefore, he lost natural weight bearing which we get when we stand or walk.
We were also unable to stretch the right leg leading to significant contractures in both of his ankles. Having good range of motion at the ankles is important for our ability to walk and decreasing our risk for falling. Factoring in the extra muscle weakness from weeks of being stuck in a wheelchair and you’re really going to have a hard time re-gaining the ability to walk again.
With a diagnosis of DMD, it makes a situation like this even more complex. With therapy, Reece was able to re-gain the ability to walk. First, with a walker. Next, with hand-held assist. Finally, on his own again. However, not for any more than 10-15 feet at a time and not without a risk of falling again. See, along with all the other complications of DMD doctors prescribe steroids.
Prolonged use of steroids means added weight gain which in turns weighs down your body. All that added weight on a child with DMD makes walking that much more difficult. Not only do you add the weight gain, but prednisone (the most commonly used steroid in boys with DMD) sucks the calcium and vitamin D out of your bones. Then, your bones start to deteriorate increasing your risk for fractures.
Reece was able to walk through the summer up until September. In early September he fell again injuring his knee and from that day never took another step. Just like that my 9 year old son had took his last step. He would become completely wheelchair dependent that day. You think you can prepare yourself and be ready when that day comes. Truly, that is absolutely impossible. You can in no way be prepared.
You’ll look back and wish as a parent that you would’ve taken more trips, taken more pictures/videos. There are so many things that you would change. Hindsight is 20/20. In saying that, we do our best. We participate in therapy. We advocate for him in school. We take him to see the best doctors. We get him the best doctors. We get him all the equipment he needs. But then he asked for a service dog.
We talked about it and then I spent some time online looking around. I looked everywhere. Every organization had a different set of rules/requirements. Each organization also had a different price tag upwards of $20,000. We immediately knew that it wasn’t an option. It was heart breaking for him. He just started an antidepressant December after he had battled significant depression.
This past year has just been so life-changing for him. His body is failing him and I can only imagine what that’s like to try and process at the tender age of 9. We have tried counseling but he refused to talk to her. It was pointless. So, when he asked for a service dog we thought maybe it could be therapeutic for him. A companion of his own. A dog who could help with some of his most basic needs but that could also be a friend.
We were so disheartened when we realized what an impossibility it was to get one. We don’t have $20,000+ laying around to be able to afford a service dog nor did he meet most of the age requirements for some of the organizations that we looked at.
I had to leave my job almost 2 years ago in order to care for Reece and our household. His appointments became so frequent and meetings at school so often necessary to make adaptations to his surroundings that it just became impossible for me to maintain a my full-time position as a therapist in a skilled nursing facility and fulfill my most important role as the mother to a child with special needs.
We have to travel quite a bit for appointments, therapies, braces, etc that our gas and food expenses are quite draining on us financially. We also need to add an addition onto our house so that we can even further accommodate Reece’s growing need for more and larger equipment. Anything, that we could potentially save would have to go directly to the home improvements to increase his quality of life and independence within our home.
So, when we were contacted by Mr. Agustin you can imagine how excited we became! We didn’t even tell him at first. I felt like we had already broken his heart when we told him that getting him a service dog wouldn’t be possible. We didn’t want to get his hopes up only to crush them again. He is a wonderful kid. He’s an excellent brother. He loves his brother and sister dearly. He loves having his cousins and friends over. He loves to cook with me in the evening.
I can’t imagine how it must feel though at times to be completely surrounded by kids who can do everything that you can’t. He has no playground access so he stays inside at school during Recess and plays the computer. He hasn’t been in a bouncy house in over 3 years. We don’t often visit a park because they aren’t designed to be handicapped accessible. That can be hard for our younger 2 children, Dawson whom is 6 and Claire who is 7 to understand because of course they’d love to go to the park and play.
There are so many things we have to think about when decided to go to certain functions or vacations, etc. As a family, we conquer it all. There are no regrets or hard feelings. From his perspective, I can’t fathom that the inconveniences of our lives, are even comparable to the inconveniences of his. So, I write this letter as an advocate for my wonderful son. Please help him to have the opportunity to have a service dog, a friend. A dog that will by loved, appreciated, and taken well care of by our family.
With the warmest regards,
Keith and Kayla Beasley
Organizer and beneficiary
Kaylee Agustin
Organizer
Lovettsville, VA
Joseph Agustin
Beneficiary
