Help Cristian walk with a mobility service dog!
Our sweet Cristian is about to turn 12 years old! It's so hard to believe. Most 12 year old children are running and playing outside, and not thinking twice about using every single muscle in their body to try to do these most simple of things. Our love Cristian might not think he is working hard, because he knows no different.. but every single day Cristian works endlessly to be able to move. Most of you know, Cristian has Kabuki Syndrome, which is a rare genetic disorder. One of the symptoms of Kabuki Syndrome is low muscle tone and his whole life we have been really focusing on gaining more muscle to help him with balance and everyday tasks like walking without support. Cristian can walk some now with the aide of an adult or device. His main mode of getting around the house is crawling though because he needs someone to help him up to be able to walk.
About a month ago, my husband and I were sitting at the dinner table and Cristian came crawling in. I looked at Trevor and asked him when do you think he is ever going to be able to get up and just walk? I mean, right now he's small so it doesn't seem too very odd to see him crawl around. But as he gets older, it just doesn't seem appropriate. I tell you, the very next morning, I got a call from Roverchase Service Dogs (https://www.theroverchasefoundation.org/), saying that Cristian had been chosen to be a recipient of a service mobility dog. Say what??? Absolute insanity. To be able to see Cristian get up with the aid of a mobility dog and walk around our home instead of using so much energy to crawl around our home is just crazy to think about. A mobility service dog by his side would do just this!
The benefits of the mobility service dog for Cristian include gaining more independence by walking instead of crawling, development of balance and self-support, improved motor planning, and improvements in his overall mobility.
A lot of people wonder why service dogs are so expensive. This dog that will help our son has been in training for almost 2 years to serve his person. It costs $15,000-$35,000 to raise and train a service dog to professional standards. By helping Cristian get this dog, you are investing in a piece a medical equipment. Just like a wheelchair cost upwards of $10K or more, a mobility service dog can be just as important as a piece of medical equipment, thus the high cost of this mode of helping Cristian gain independence.
Thank you all for supporting our son and for helping him! As soon as Cristian gets his dog, we would like to organize a virtual dog walk with his dog and ask all the donors to join us for this live event!