Hello, my name is Cody Champion, and I want to share a piece of my story with you.
I’m a 20-year-old student at BYU–Idaho, working toward a Bachelor’s degree in Medical Sciences. I’ve grown up across Tennessee, Oklahoma, and Indiana—though I’ll always say Kentucky feels most like home. I love board games, being outdoors, reading, good food, and I’m a total science nerd, especially when it comes to human physiology and nutrition.
That love for the medical sciences didn’t come out of nowhere. It was born from years of unanswered questions.
For most of my life, I knew something wasn’t right. I watched people my age run, balance, and move with ease while I struggled—often without knowing why. Doctor after doctor ran tests, but no one had answers. After graduating high school, my life felt like it was on pause. A full year passed before we finally found a physician who ordered the right test.
That test gave us a name for what I’d been fighting my whole life: Friedreich’s Ataxia (FA).
FA is a progressive, genetic neuromuscular disease—one that has been with me since birth and will continue to affect me as time goes on. At its core, FA disrupts a protein called frataxin, whose job is to safely move oxygen into the mitochondria so cells can function. When frataxin doesn’t work properly, that oxygen becomes destructive, damaging cells over time. Most cells can recover—but nerve cells cannot.
The result is a condition that slowly steals coordination, balance, strength, and endurance. FA causes fatigue, muscle weakness, slurred speech, loss of sensation, scoliosis, heart disease, and diabetes. For me, the biggest daily challenges are walking and balance—things many people never have to think twice about.
As FA continues its progression, I’ve had to think seriously about how I can remain independent, safe, and mobile for as long as possible. That led me to research service dogs for people with Friedreich’s Ataxia. Again and again, one breed rose to the top: Bernese Mountain Dogs—known for their size, strength, intelligence, and calm, gentle temperament.
That’s where Bear comes in.
Bear is a Bernese Mountain Dog who is being trained to become my medical service dog—my partner, my stabilizer, and my support as FA continues its assault on my body. Bear will help me with balance, mobility, fatigue, and safety, and he will give me something just as important: confidence and independence.
Training a medical service dog is a long, specialized, and expensive process. I’m asking for your help—not just to fund a service dog, but to invest in my ability to keep moving forward. To keep studying. To keep serving. To keep living my life with dignity and hope.
Every donation, every share, and every bit of support brings Bear and me one step closer to walking this road together.
Thank you for taking the time to read my story—and for being part of it.