Service Dog Training-Perry Strong

Adelhorst Kennels & K9 Training by Anna are organizing this GoFundMe for Sage & Bailey’s journey to become a team. Bailey will spend the next 8-12 months training to become Sage’s service dog. Her training will be tailored to Sage’s daily needs. This is an extensive process where she will complete 3-4 board & train stays with us at Adelhorst and many private lessons for Sage & Bailey to become a team.

The story through Sage’s Mom eyes…

Our son, Sage, was a victim of the Perry High School shooting on 1/4/2024.

He was in surgery for 9+ hours, with 3 surgeons working different areas.

They counted 21 holes in our son. 21.

He was shot 12 times and has 3 bullets remaining in his body.

There is a bullet hole entrance in his lower back, right next to the spine that grazed and traveled around his spine, knicked his kidney, traumatized the adrenal gland, lacerated his spleen, put a hole in his diaphragm, and ultimately ended up in the lung where it lodged itself, and ultimately collapsed the lung. Surgeon has no idea how the bullet missed his spine and traveled the way it did, but said he’d likely be paralyzed if it hit his spine. This bullet is still in his lung and will likely form scar tissue over it.

Sage sustained a shot to his left forearm, where multiple bullets went in, causing the bone to shatter. Surgeon removed all shrapnel in the arm, and Sage will be in a cast for healing.

Sage was also shot in the back of his right knee, significantly damaging an artery. Artery from his upper left thigh was harvested and used in his right leg. They clamped above and below the bullet, and the vascular surgeon then create a newly routed artery to save Sage’s leg. Due to his leg being without blood flow for about 10 hours, they made 2 deep vertical incisions on each side of his calf to allow for muscle swelling. Thankfully, at the end of surgery there was no swelling, so they stapled those incisions up. This surgeon did incredibly beautiful work on our son.

There are several bullets still in our son…

It was the first day back after winter break. The kids were excited to see their friends. Sage had on a new outfit and shoes from Christmas. I dropped the boys off at 7:10am; they like to get there a little early to hang with friends before school starts. Sage said he went to the bathroom when he got there, (and later told us he saw the shooter in the bathroom stall). Sage didn’t speak to him and said it looked like he was just sitting in there. Sage finished up and went to go sit with his friends at a table in the commons. He recalls his back facing the bathrooms and he was looking forward toward the gym. He recalls it being roughly 15 minutes from the time he left the bathroom, to the time the shooter came out of the bathroom.

He heard the first big shot, then a second. And it was with the second shot, Sage said he hit the floor. This child mustered up the courage to turn around and look to see the shooter holding a shotgun. With gunshots in his back, leg, arms, thighs, abdomen and chest; Sage got up and ran for his life on one leg down the hall the multi purpose room that is at the other end of the building. He said a window was shot out down there. Imagine how fast those bullets were coming out to shatter a window at the other end of the school… the same bullets that hit our son and other students at a much closer range.

Sage said he banged on the doors saying “help me, help me!” And a woman with red hair came and busted thru an exit door, loaded him up in her car and got him to our local hospital.

After dropping the boys off at 7:10am, I went back home to eat breakfast before logging in for work. at 7:36am I got a call from my middle schooler yelling “mom, there’s a shooter in the school - I’m running to Casey’s - come get me!” I could hardly hear his muffled voice and was in complete disbelief, saying “what are you talking about?!”

And with labored breathing and hearing him running in the background he screamed again “there’s a shooter shooting up the school, come get me!”

I told my middle schooler to stay in the phone with me until I got there. I grabbed my keys and fled. I picked up my middle schooler and the friend he ran with at about 7:39am and immediately asked “where’s your brother?!”

“I don’t know, mom.”

I began calling Sage - voicemail. Called again - voicemail. And again. And again. And again. And again. Voicemail.

The panic began to feel incredibly real knowing I still had a child in that school building. I drove to the front of the high school and was told many kids went out the back of the school and others ran to the armory. I rushed to the armory and my eyes scanned the cluster of children huddling together outside, looking for my son’s face. I couldn’t see it. A teacher came up, asking who I was looking for and I asked if they’d seen Sage. They said no. It was at this time, 7:42am - I got a call from my husband…

“Megan - Sage has been shot! He’s at the Dallas County Hospital - GO!”

And with that my heart sank lower than it’s ever been and panic set in. I whipped the car around and rushed to the hospital with my hand on the horn the entire time. My middle schooler and his friend later told me they were surprised we made it to the hospital in one piece. As we pulled up, myself, my son and his friend ran and banged on the locked glass doors of the ER. We were immediately let in and I said “my son is here where is he?!”

The woman said he’s here but she wasn’t sure what room he was in. She hit the button to open the ER doors and I hollered down the hall, “Sage!!”

And I hear - “Mom!!”

My baby was alive.

I walked in to see my sons body laying on a gurney; covered in blood and holes, and his face white as a ghost. His pants were cut off him and soaked in blood. I immediately grabbed his hand in mine and couldn’t stop looking at him. “Am I gonna die, mom?”

“No baby. You’re not gonna die. I got you.”

They sent a chopper to transport but by the time it got there, there were other victims - one that wasn’t stable and needed the chopper more. We waited about 5 more minutes and an ambulance showed up to take Sage to a Des Moines that could handle his injuries. I couldn’t ride with my baby because my other son and friend were with me. So the ambulance gave us a 10 minute head start to get there since it would take a few minutes to get Sage loaded up.

We made it to the hospital in no time - drove 90 the entire way and passed probably 30+ law enforcement and ambulances that were heading into Perry on our way out. Got to the hospital and they determined surgery was necessary. From there is when I really began posting the updates on Facebook.

Please continue to keep Sage and our family in your thoughts and prayers - as well as the other victims affected by this tragic event. Our lives don’t go back to normal just because the media stops reporting on it.