Service Dog for Madi

Update: We first put together this GoFundMe about a year ago. But Madi started getting very ill and she has been on a medically traumatic journey for the last year. Since March 2023, she has undergone 4 surgeries on her spinal cord and brain. She had many complications and spent almost the entire summer in the hospital. In June, she went into sepsis twice and we almost lost her each time.

Madi is having more brain surgery on Monday, December 4, and this time she will spend several days in the ICU.

Madi’s emotional and mental health is not good as she has hardly been able to attend school - she should be enjoying her senior year of high school and being a teenager and going out with friends; instead she has been too ill and unable to walk very well and I’ve been a full-time caregiver. This service dog will also be an emotional support dog and Madi is in great need of all the services he can provide.

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Hi, I’m Val. I’m a single mom to an amazing young woman, Madilyn (Madi) Bollwinkel. Madi is 17 years old and is a Senior at Herriman High School. She was born with Spina Bifida. Madi is one of God’s miracles to me - we were told she wouldn’t ever walk, but she does! Madi uses a crutch for walking most of the time, but also has a wheelchair for times of excessive walking or standing. Her legs are weak and become exhausted easily or “give out” on her - when she was little she would say her legs were “being stupid.”

Madi has endured a lifetime of physical disability and medical issues. To date (and if I’ve counted right), she has undergone 16 major surgeries - a myriad of spinal cord, bladder/bowel, orthopedic (foot and ankle), and plastic surgeries.

THEN, in March 2022, Madi was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. This has been a new and major obstacle in Madi’s life. We both dropped to a new low mentally and emotionally, for a long time, with this news. Madi has done a lot of hard work learning to monitor and control her symptoms and health.

Madi is 6 months from high school graduation and moving into adulthood. We are hoping to get a service dog that will greatly assist Madi with her independence.

This service dog will be both a diabetic alert dog and a mobility assistance dog. This dog will be trained to Madi’s scent, differentiating between low, normal and high blood sugar and will alert Madi as much as 15 minutes before a serious rise or drop that might have turned into an emergency situation. This dog will monitor her day and night, waking her up, or me, if needed.

In addition, this dog will be mobility trained - he will wear a harness for walking assistance, can open doors, retrieve things, pull her wheelchair if needed, and position himself against her to help her stand up when she is down.

He will be a working dog in public, dedicated to taking care of Madi. He will know the difference between work time and play time (yes, service dogs have plenty of play time).

It will take around 8 months before Madi gets her dog. And he will not be mobility trained until he is full grown, 18 months to 2 years old. We are hoping for a poodle for the sake of my allergies as long as he is big enough for mobility training - which is why we need a male.

All of this intense and specialized training comes with a big price tag - $18,000 to $20,000 with extra mobility training costs coming later.

I’m not able to handle this amount myself. So, I’ve started fundraising with the hope that Madi’s family, friends and allies will help us out. Madi will also contribute to fundraising and I will apply for grants.

We need $3000 down before Madi gets a dog assignment and training can begin.

I will update Madi’s story as we go through another major surgery and hospital stay.

Thank you for reading and considering our story. And, thank you in advance for your donations.