I started a local page on Facebook where people can buy sell and trade their stuff. Recently one lady had really started posting a lot of stuff. Shortly there after, she posted on the page that there was an emergency and if someone was commenting on her stuff to let them know that she would answer them when they got home from the hospital. That's all we were told. A few days later, she came back on and explained that her son had woke up with a huge knot on his leg. They took him to VCH and they were told it was cancer. A few days after that post, she came back posting that she was looking for a goldendoodle puppy for her son as he has always wanted on. The wheels got to turning and with 3000 members, I knew that we could get this kids a puppy. I blocked her from seeing Damien's post and started a secret page called Furever Friend for Brayden. It was amazing to see the community come together to make this little boys wish come true. I was even contacted by someone who talked to make a wish. They said they would help us with it and do it...but I knew that we could do this as a community and they could save their wish for something bigger. I was shocked at what happened in just 3 days.
In just 3 days we had about $1400 donated. From that we purchased a $230 gift card to PetSm@rt. Set aside money for pet insurance for a year and heart worm and flea/tick meds for one year.
We found a breeder in Fairview who let us have a dog at a discounted rate. Mikasha Clark Photography donated services to capture the new family together. Dr. Louie Lembo of Animal Emergency Clinic of Maury County donated services for vaccinations and well visits for the first year. Mars Petcare donated a bag of goodies for the humans and the dogs including coupons over $100 worth. Now on top of that, the big kicker. There was someone who knew Jon Stolzer of Canine Inc. She reached out to him and he called me. He donated his services to pick the dog from the litter and train the dog to become a service dog. This means the dog could go everywhere with the family even to the hospital for chemo treatments. This service alone would be about $25,000. WOW! Talk about the community pulling together for a worthy cause.
The litter
The family were waiting outside the facility. We finally had to let mom in on it as we were starting to cross paths looking for a dog. We were so afraid she was going to get one. She told the boys they were coming to see their neighbor do a K9 demonstration.
Here's the family with their hand selected puppy, which they later named Gracie Matthew. Gracie (for Grace) and Matthew, in memory of another local boy who lost his battle with cancer last year.
Later the tests results came back and Brayden was diagnosed with Ewings Sarcoma. Thankfully the tests showed that it was not anywhere else other than the spot on his leg that they removed. Unfortunately, they have no way of knowing if it got in his blood so they still have to do chemo. Thankfully he's going to have a little friend who likes to snuggle.
