Eli and Quilter

Eli and Quilter

Eli's Story

Eli is a wonderful 13-year-old young man with an interesting and remarkable story. He has been on a miraculous journey his whole life and this is the beginning of the next chapter.

Eli began having seizures when he was 17 months old and these quickly progressed to become life-threatening. After much testing and trying several medications, it was determined that the best thing for Eli was brain surgery to try and stop them. On May 17,1999, Eli underwent a modified hemispherectomy, the removal of most of the left side of his brain. This surgery left him seizure free, but paralyzed on the right side of his body and without speech. He has, over the last 11 years regained his speech, his ability to walk and much use of his right hand, in what we feel is a remarkable recovery.

But this world is a two-handed world and in our desire to allow him to be as independent as possible, we recently applied for a service dog for him. We hope that this dog will not only assist him in carrying things, opening doors for him when his hand is full and helping him keep his balance when he is walking in his beloved mountains, we also hope that the dog will be a bridge to the rest of the world for him, helping him connect with others. We also know that the special bond he will have with the dog will only benefit him in ways we can't imagine right now.Join us as we move forward through his journey to his dog, and the rest of his life.

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

What an amazing day!!

We have great news!! We found out today that Eli will be getting his dog by summer. He will be attending a summer camp that is usually held for typical kids that want to learn to work with the dogs. This year, they are including their younger clients and this will be his "boot camp" time and he will be getting his dog during these two weeks. We are very excited! But this means that we need to step up our fundraising! Thanks to those of you who have donated so far!! Please pass the word on to anyone who may be interested! Enjoy some photos below from our day!

Eli takes Quake out for a stroll. The harness will be used for balance help. Each harness is custom made for the person and the dog and will be an additional cost.

Eli pets Quigley after a hard workout, just before we left for the day. Quigley is a good sized dog for Eli and seemed happy to work for Eli. He also seemed a bit tired. :-)

Quigley looking intently at Eli. What's next?? So adorable! What beautiful, hard working dogs!! All the "Q" dogs are two years old. (They name each litter after a letter of the alphabet)

Is it my turn yet??? These are some of the dogs Eli has worked with, as well as Meg Flynn's own dogs. This is how we were greeted when we arrived. How can there be that much cuteness in that little space?

We are excited to know we will have a new member of the family as early as June! But we know there is much to do and prepare for. Please come back for updates as time goes on. Our next "test drive" in April will be at Chandler Mall! Stay tuned!!!

Thank you so much!

Marc and Naomi
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