My name is Cori and I am Ri's mom. I am humbly asking for you to support my 15 year old daughter, in raising money for her to train her English Cream Golden Retriever puppy, Marigold to be professional trained as a Service Dog/Medical Alert for her multiple chronic illnesses.

Ri developed Covid in December of 2023, she never fully recovered. In June, 2024 she was formally diagnosed with Dysautonomia which is the Dysfunction of the Autonomic Nervous System. She was told she had POTS (Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome, MCAS (Mast Cell Activation System), Ehlers-Danlos (Hypermobility Spectrum Disorder), Chronic Fatigue and Chronic Insomnia. Ri had to withdraw from her freshman year of high school, per the direction of her physician and started online school.

Ri's illnesses' affect her autonomic nervous system. This means that all the things that her body does without her thinking no long function like they should. An example, is having your body being taken off of autopilot. It means that her body doesn't pump the blood correctly, Instead of going to her brain when she stands up it pools at her feet and her heart has to work overtime to fix it. This causes her heart rate to increase sometimes upwards of 150 bpm which makes her incredibly dizzy and unstable on her feet.

In January 2025, Ri picked out a beautiful English Cream Golden Retriever who she named Marigold. Having Marigold trained as a service dog/medical alert could mean that she can start to do more and eventually live alone when she turns 18 entering college. Her service dog would be trained to accomplish things she struggles doing. Marigold would pick things up from the ground, bring her water or medicine and even help open doors. Most importantly Marigold could be trained to alert Ri when her heart rate gets too high or low and she feels like she is going to faint. Marigold will signal Ri to sit down and will stay with her until she wakes up or help arrives.

The downside to a service dog is it's very expensive. We are asking for donations to help with the expenses that go into training Marigold by a professional Service Dog Trainer (which we already have). Any help with this is very much appreciated. It takes 2 full years of training to get Marigold to the level Ri needs her to be.

Some of the symptoms that Ri deals with on a regular basis is: (Heart Racing, Low heart Rate, Low blood pressure, Dizziness, Passing out - syncope and pre-syncope/fainting, Nausea and Vomiting, Numbness and tingling, Headaches/Migraines, Severe Pain especially in her back, legs/feet/ pain from walking, Stomach cramps, Blood Pooling, Severe Brain Fog, Chronic fatigue/Chronic Insomnia, Temperature Dysregulation and Temperature Intolerance, Joint Pain, Histamine buildup that includes anaphylaxis or near-anaphylaxis attacks, Hyper-mobility, sublimation and dislocation of joints/bones, Neurological, Respiratory and Vision Issues.)

Many of these symptoms Ri has every day and the severeness can change day-to-day and hour to hour.

Thank you for taking the time to read Ri's story and for considering a donation to help her train Marigold.

She is looking forward to the next step in her journey with Marigold and being able to do much more day-to-day. Due to her chronic illness diagnosis' Ri wants to train Service Dogs for her career and help people that suffer from chronic illnesses just like her. She has a master plan, but the first step is getting Marigold trained as a Service/Medical alert dog.

I will provide updates as we go. Please share with friends/family/colleagues, etc. Any help Ri can get we are eternally grateful for.

Thank you for your kindness and generosity.

Cori