Service Dogs Alabama

My name is Clay Burns

When I was 12 years old, I played piano, soccer, and rode my bicycle until Dystonia started taking over my life.

First my fingers and wrist twisted until I couldn’t play piano or write or take notes in school. Then my right foot started turning, and I started losing my balance and falling often. By college, I required a wheelchair or assistance to walk. 

At 30, I had electrodes placed in my brain to help control my body’s neurological impulses.  This surgery has helped me regain some movement, but I am still prone to fall without warning and need assistance walking or a wheelchair.

Having a Service Dog trained with a harness to help me with balance and walking would change my life.  Gaining independence to take care of myself would be amazing.  

I graduated from Texas A & M with a degree in history and I would love to go to work at a library.  Then, to be able to explore historic sites that I’ve only read about would be a dream come true.  

For 25 years, life has been about trying to understand what was happening to my body and trying to find answers.  Now, for the first time in such a long time, my life can be about fulfilling my own dreams.

Please help me raise $20,000.00 for the mission of Service Dogs Alabama. They are matching every dollar I raise to train a Mobility Dog specifically for my needs.

With the help of a service dog, I can begin a new life!

Thank you, Clay Burns

Morgan Love is 14 years old and for the past three years has been battling several health issues that include Lyme Disease, encephalopathy, seizures, trigeminal neuralgia, trigeminal autonomic cephalgia, optic neuritis, and intractable hemicrania.  Morgan also has weakness on her left side, her left leg and her left arm.  Morgan’s left hand is paralyzed and she has lost most of her sight in her left eye. Her speech is affected.  Morgan sees several doctors in the Birmingham Area and sees a Specialist in Washington, DC.  She is undergoing IV therapy, physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech therapy.   Morgan needs a service dog to assist her.  The dog will enable her to be more independent by assisting her with balance issues and sight deficiencies.  The service dog will provide valuable assistance with seizures by alerting prior to onset.   The dog will be extremely helpful to Morgan.   Morgan’s family has been working to get her a service dog for over two years.  Service Dogs Alabama has gracefully stepped in to assist Morgan in finding a service dog.  They are in the process of training a dog for her.  The expense of training a service dog is extensive.    We are asking for donations to help with the expense.  Any donation amount will help.  Donations go directly to Service Dogs Alabama.  Thank you for your support to help Morgan get the service dog she needs.

#smallbuisnessrelief 

I was a cross-country runner when I was 11 years old.

Then one day I was suddenly too weak to walk. In an instant, my life went from daily work-outs to managing pain and seizures. Everything I had worked toward in the past disappeared, and my life became a fight for survival.

Four years after my symptoms started, I was finally diagnosed with Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (P.O.T.S.) which is a heart condition that affects my entire autonomic nervous system. In addition, I was diagnosed with Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Narcolepsy, Asthma, IBS, and non-epileptic psychogenic seizures.

I am now 20, and I am trying to adjust this a new way of life and move forward. 

I started going to college at UAB, but my seizures have gotten worse. Often, I don’t even realize I am about to pass out before it is too late. I am always afraid of being alone in public or by myself and passing out.

I need a Service Dog trained for Seizure detection who can alert me to my seizures and stay with me until help arrives or I recover. He also needs to help me with walking when I am weak and bracing for me to get up and down.

With a Service Dog, I would never be alone again, and I could always get to a safe place before a seizure hit. Just the thought of this possibility gives me so much hope for my future.

Please donate to help me get the dog that I need.

All donations are 100% tax deductible.

Service Dogs Alabama is the largest and oldest Service Dog organization serving children, Veterans, and active adults in Alabama. All funds go to their Mission to train Service Dogs to the highest standard of proficiency training.

At 34 weeks pregnant with my second child, I woke up with  debilitating pain in my back due to an aortic dissection that put me in the hospital for more than 100 days. That day, my child was born via c-section and put into the immediate care of my husband. I wouldn’t recognize my daughter until she was 3 weeks old.

I was born with an extremely rare genetic mutation that causes chronic aortic aneurysms and dissections. In Layman's terms, and in my case, the veins leading to my heart split open and leaked into my body.  I went on to go through four heart surgeries and then was placed into a medically induced coma for a week. I suffered kidney failure, liver failure, and acute heart failure twice. After I was able to leave the hospital and go into rehab, I couldn’t walk, brush my hair or my teeth, or write my own name.

Rehabilitation has gotten me to the point to where I can now walk and do some daily tasks. However, many things are still extremely difficult. I have severe nerve damage on my left side that will lead to tingling and numbness and eventually cause me to collapse. I also fear being in large crowds because I easily fall. Additionally, I suffer with nightmares that continuously wake me. A service dog would be able to help me with all of these issues. The dog would be able to alert someone, and lead me to a safe place if and when I fall. They would also be able to place a boarder between me and a crowd of people, and wake me at night during my night terrors. Right now, I fear being because I might fall. A service dog will give me the independence to live a more normal life without many of the fears my condition has caused. Help me give my two children the mother they need. A service dog can provide that.

A Service Dog is my ticket back to life. I have been a police officer and a first responder for 13 years. I am fulfilling my dream to help people when they are in trouble, to rescue and protect people and to keep them safe. Nothing prepared me for the toll this would take on my mind, my heart, my family and my whole life. Now my constant anger and fear hold me captive, and my life is just survival of each day. I am only 48 years old. This just can't be it for me. I want to be happy again, not numb and alone. I want to stop looking over my shoulder every minute. I want the nightmares of finding dead children, smelling decaying bodies, suicides, and witnessing faceless people due to gun shots...to stop. I am so angry and not even sure why. But the anger is just beneath the surface and is easily triggered by everything and by nothing. Usually it is my family who is the target when I snap. My life can have value again to my family and to my community,  but I need help beyond therapy and medication. I have to take this leap of faith to get a trained Service Dog, there are no other options. My journey to this place was an honor because I did help so many people, but I now need a Service Dog to guide me out of this place and into the next phase of my life which will include happiness and peace of mind. Please support my efforts to raise money for Service Dogs of Alabama. They have the best trained PTSD Service Dogs in Alabama and I need one. Thank You Timothy Goad

None of my training prepared me the afterlife of fighting a war on the frontlines.
I suffered 5 concussions, a broken back, had heart attacks/ hypertension episodes, suffer from fits of essential tremors due to multiple TBI's, but it is the recurring nightmares of watching my comrades be blown up that controls my life.
Living with this in my head 24/7 makes it impossible to live a normal life. Experiencing happiness again seemed like a pipe dream… until now.
There is a light at the end of my tunnel and he has 4 paws and a wagging tail. He is waiting there to help me.
I need to raise $4,000 of the $14,000 it costs to train my service dog.
Please help me bring my last hope home.
Take a moment and give. Every dollar helps.
Thank you. Ret. SSG. Chris Sather, US Army

My name is Cameron and I am 14 years old.

I was born with a chromosome abnormality called Trisomy 9p. My doctors said that I would never walk or talk. But I can talk and walk, however, I have other battles to fight.  I have mental, cognitive, and developmental delays. I have a severely curved spine, hearing loss, asthma, a heart condition, and sleep apnea.

I’m now at a point in my medical plan that a service dog would be a huge asset. My service dog could help me at school, in therapy, and at home. I stay busy with speech therapy, behavioral therapy, physical therapy, and occupational therapy. I need a Service Dog to assist me with redirection, focusing, balance, and situational awareness.

Service Dogs Alabama is matching every dollar that we raise for their Mission, so we only need to raise $7,000.00 of the $14,000.00 that my dog will cost to train.

I am 14 years old. I will never have a typical standard of living, but I think I can come close if I have a Service Dog to help me.

I would really really truly appreciate your help. Please donate.

Thank you, Cameron

Malorie is a 10 year old girl who was diagnosed with epilepsy a couple weeks after starting Kindergarten. She has spent numerous days in the hospital and has had more tests than I can count and taken more medicine than anyone should. Her seizures started off very mild and did not affect her life too much. As she has grown, so have her seizures. She had her first grand mal seizure in Oct 2016. Since then, she started having grand mal seizures every 2-3 weeks, but has petite mal seizures daily. She has a VNS implanted to help, but the seizures still occur. She had medications added and changed which caused mood changes, weight gain, and inability to sleep and concentrate. Her sleep deprivation got so bad; she was taken out of school the last month of the school year and did homebound learning. She cannot be left alone for long periods of time because we never know when she will have a seizure. She doesn’t get to sleep over at friends’ houses or even with some family members because of the anxiety that the other parents will not watch her close enough or be alert if she has one while sleeping. This is a child who loves playing volleyball, kayaking, shopping, and hanging out with friends. She now has to be watched everywhere she goes and is on edge wondering if something is going to happen and if someone will see her and help. Having a service dog would give her back  independence, confidence, and the peace of mind that she has help when she needs it.  Please consider donating quickly to help this sweet girl be a more active kid who can achieve her dreams.  So we are raising $10,000 for the mission of Service Dogs Alabama.