AW’s Story: Finding Safety and Hope Through a Service Dog

At Mission: Service Dog, we have the honor of supporting young people like AW as they fight to reclaim the life they love. Her story is one of creativity, courage, and quiet determination; and a service dog could be the key that unlocks her future.

AW and her SDiT, Ace

Born on an Army base as the youngest of four children, AW has always carried a bright, creative spirit. She finds joy in cooking new recipes, playing volleyball, and bringing anime characters to life with her incredible drawings. She loves experimenting with special effects makeup, watching birds in peaceful moments, and spending time with the people she cares about most. Family road trips, full of new sights and shared laughter, are some of her favorite memories. With a deep love for Japanese culture, she dreams of one day traveling there to experience it for herself.

Family Christmas!

But the past few years have brought challenges no teenager should have to carry alone. After more than a year of frightening, uncontrolled episodes, AW was diagnosed just a few months ago with supraventricular tachycardia, or SVT, a heart condition that causes extreme dizziness and sometimes leads to passing out. In early 2025 she received an ADHD diagnosis, and later that year she was also diagnosed with Tourette’s. The combination of these conditions triggered a sharp rise in anxiety that began to interfere with almost every part of her daily life. To manage her symptoms and the side effects of changing medications, she had to switch to virtual school this past year. The isolation has been heavy. AW has withdrawn from many of the activities and connections that once brought her so much happiness, and the constant worry of when an episode might strike has made simply going out feel overwhelming and unsafe.

This is where a service dog can change everything for her.

Animals have always brought AW a deep sense of comfort, and that comfort has already proven powerful in easing her anxiety, which in turn helps calm her tics. A specially trained service dog will take that support even further. As a mobility assistance dog, it will walk beside her ready to provide balance and stability the moment dizziness hits, making those episodes much safer. Just as importantly, the dog’s steady, trained presence will give her a feeling of security during the scariest moments, so an episode doesn’t have to feel quite so terrifying. With that safety net, AW can begin to step back into the world with greater confidence.

Her goals are simple and deeply human: she wants to return to full-time in-person school, to sit in a real classroom again, and to socialize freely with friends without the constant fear of an episode holding her back. She wants to cook and draw and play volleyball without worrying about when her body might betray her. She wants to enjoy family road trips again and, one day, make that dream trip to Japan a reality. A service dog can help turn those hopes into her everyday life.

AW’s strength is quiet but unmistakable. Even while facing health struggles that have pulled her away from so much she loves, she continues to hold onto her passions and her vision for the future. She isn’t asking for a miracle, she’s asking for the chance to feel safe enough to live fully again.

At Mission: Service Dog, we believe every young person like AW deserves that chance. Training and placing a service dog is a significant investment, but the difference it can make in her safety, her anxiety, her independence, and her ability to simply be a teenager again is immeasurable.

Your support today can help write the next chapter of AW’s story. A gift to Mission: Service Dog can directly fund the service dog she needs: the loyal partner who will offer both steady balance during episodes and the comforting presence that eases her anxiety. Every donation brings her closer to walking back into school, laughing with friends without fear, and chasing the dreams that light her up.

Will you help AW feel safe enough to step back into her life? Please consider making a donation to Mission: Service Dog right now. Together, we can give her the freedom, security, and confidence she deserves.

Donte directly to her program here: https://square.link/u/QGe3Ue7G