Hi, my name's Anastasia Boylan. I'm a UCC shooting survivor from October 1st, 2015. My dog, pictured here, was born 2 days after the shooting on October 3rd, 2015. She was my therapy dog and my best friend. She could recognize when I was having anxiety and depression from my PTSD, and she could pull me out of it in an instant by cuddling me and applying her warmth and pressure to my chest. She would lay on my right leg with nerve damage and keep it from kicking, and she would support my back at night so it didn't hurt so bad when I slept. I was shot in my back during this mass shooting. I lost 8 of my classmates and my professor, as well as 12 other survivors, including myself. 8 of the 12 were injured and 4 were uninjured. I've gotten PTSD therapy, physical therapy, and had a chiropractor, but nothing helped me as much as my dog.

I lose it when I come home at the end of the day from work and know I don't have her to greet me on the other side of my door. I went through a ton of training with her and spent so much time with her after the shooting before I was well enough to return to work and my new normal life. I'm asking for help to acquire a therapy dog to help me with my anxiety attacks and depression. I just put a deposit down on a mini Australian Shepherd puppy. $1800 more to acquire the mini Aussie and then the few thousand for training to get her to where she can do what my doggy pictured did for me. I've tried to reach out elsewhere like survivor funds or non-profits, and I've had no luck. God bless. Thank you so much for taking the time to read about what's going on in my crazy life.