Julia's Guardian Angel

In 2001, we almost lost our daughter to a life-threatening peanut allergy. After taking a small bite of a Ritz-bitz with peanut butter and spitting it out, she fell into anaphylactic shock. By the time we reached the Emergency Room, she wasn't breathing anymore. Luckily, with Epinepherine, Bendryl, Prednisone and prayers, she started breathing again.

For the last 12 years, we have spent every day reading labels and monitoring her surroundings. Sometimes that is not enough. Even visiting a friend's house, Julia slipped off her shoe and stepped on a crumb of Peanut Butter Captain Crunch and her foot swelled up like a balloon. We can never be too safe.

That is where we need help. Julia is now a teenager that needs some independence and a guardian angel. We recently met with someone who trains peanut detection dogs, like narcotics dogs, to be service dogs for people with life-threatening peanut and tree nut allergies. The trainer has an opening for a dog for Julia if we can raise the money quickly and locate the breed we need - an Australian Labradoodle or Standard Poodle, due to their hypoallergenic properties. This is an almost two year process to get a puppy and have it fully trained and certified as a peanut detection dog.