Hi, my name is Sarah, in 2019 I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. MS is a degenerative, neurological disorder in which the immune system attacks health cells within the central nervous system including brain and spinal cord. The fatty cells that protect the nerves throughout the body are also affected causing messages from the brain to misfire. This causes symptoms such as loss of vision (optic neuritis), MS hug (muscle spasms around the rib cage which feels like an extremely tight girdle) muscle weakness which can effect walking, painful muscle spasms and altered sensations. These are just a few of the symptoms I personally have experienced.

This has had a huge impact on my mobility and day to day living such as dressing, housework, getting out and about and ultimately my energy levels are mostly spent looking after my children as a single parent. I had to relearn how to walk, hold a pen, work on my fine motor skills and speak slower to avoid the embarrassing slur.

My children are 12 year old Lola-Rose, who is a massive help and has taken it in her stride helping me care for her 8 month old sister Ava-Grace. I am very proud of her and we really are best friends.

I would love to be able to take my girls out more, manage my home more effectively and be able to improve my overall mental and physical health, this is where Athena joined our family.

Athena is a beautiful 11 week old cane corso, a big dog with the idea of helping me with my balance, fetching things I need and maybe even helping me collect the washing up!

In order for Athena to qualify as an assistance dog she needs specialist training which will cost around £10,000.

She is super intelligent already house trained, knows sit, come,down and wait so I know she has fantastic potential if we can get the funding.

Please help as much as you can to help improve my quality of life and my girls opportunities. We are soon grateful for whatever we are given.

Thank you