March is Brain Injury Awareness Month, and LEX18 news out of Lexington, KY has aired a story about Brain Injury Awareness, featuring Recipient Antonio, his Service Dog, Alice (2019 American Humane Hero Dog of the Year) along with his mother, Tara, talking about how her son’s traumatic brain injury has drastically changed their life, and how Service Dog Alice gives Antonio a sense of normalcy. Watch the full story here:
We’ve just received the exciting news that we’ve been nominated for a VETTY Award by the Academy of United States Veterans (AUSV)!
Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs is honored to be named a Finalist for the 2020 VETTY® Award. 2020 will mark our third consecutive year reaching the finalist stage of this nationwide competition. Here’s a little on our history with the award:
- 2018 Finalist and Winner of the Mental Health VETTY®
- 2019 Finalist in the Mental Health Category
- 2020 Finalist in Suicide Prevention Category – Vote now!
But we need your help!
The first round of voting was decided by AUSV’s voting members, where they selected Guardian Angels and two other nominees as finalists. This final round of the competition is open to public vote beginning today and running through December 18, 2019.
Will you take just a moment today to click the link and give us a Vote?
https://rangerup.com/pages/suicide-prevention
We’re up against some very powerful competition, and hope that your support can put us over the top to our 2nd VETTY win in three years!
Read the full text of our entry..
According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, suicide is now the 10thleading cause of death in the United States. In fact, from 2005 to 2016, the veteran suicide rate increased 25.9%, and the suicide rate amongst veterans was 1.5 times greater for veterans than non-veterans.
There is strong evidence, that among Veterans who experienced combat trauma, the highest relative suicide risk is observed in those who were wounded multiple times and/or hospitalized for a wound. This suggests that the intensity of the combat trauma, and the number of times it occurred, may influence suicide risk in Veterans.
There is also rising concern in the first-responder community, as a recent study by the Ruderman Foundation found rising suicide rates in our first responder community, now rising to 20% higher than the rates of civilian suicide. In 2017, more than 240 active duty police and fire personnel committed suicide. The Ruderman study concluded that PTSD was the primary culprit in first-responder suicides.
More shocking still, is that the rate of suicide in the civilian community is at a 50-year high. In fact, the national suicide rate increased a staggering 33% between 1999 and 2017, according to the CDC’s National Vital Statistics System data. Beyond our veteran community, our organization has paired people from all walks of life with these life-changing service dogs; including high school shooting victims, retired police and fire fighters, correction officers who have survived riots and first responders from the Oklahoma City bombing.
Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs has been waging a battle against PTSD and other disabilities that lead to suicide ideation since 2010. By donating nearly 300 individually trained medical service dogs, for various disabilities, most of which include PTSD, our dogs can detect and alert to rising anxiety and stress in their recipients, before it can reach critical levels, and react immediately to calm and re-focus their recipient on them, instead of their rising anxiety. They alert recipients, and gently awake them from night terrors, letting them fall back into a more restful sleep. This avoids the downward spiral that can come from sleep deprivation.
With their Service Dog at their side, our recipients report reduction or elimination of medication under their Doctors care. Beyond the recipient, this begins to change the lives of their family members as well. Many reports and stories are now being published on inter-generational PTSD. By letting the recipient re-engage with family and friends, this greatly reduces the instances of inter-generational PTSD’s potential for effecting the lives of their children.
Our organization has built a framework of assistance around our recipients that includes online private groups, designed to be a place of comfort and comradery 24/7 for our recipients across 22 states who may need a place to belong, feel safe, and have others who immediately understand and share in their experience. Our Director of Recipient Relations has a master’s degree in human services, with a specialty in social and community services; and leads quarterly follow-up to all recipients. We have staff on-call to respond to emergencies 24/7/365, plus a volunteer psychiatrist that consults as needed. Beyond this, our organization gives presentations nationwide, bringing awareness and attention to the alarming levels of suicide in our veteran, first-responder and civilian populations.
Because of this work, and the extraordinary efforts that go into training these dogs to meet the specific needs of each individual recipient – the divorce rate in our veteran recipients drops from up to 95% above the national average, to less than 1%. We have experienced ZERO suicides to date once a recipient is paired with one of our service dogs.
*Sources:
Law Enforcement Today
Pacific Standard
U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs
Congratulations to Recipient, BJ and her Super #ServiceDog, Wilson! Paired back in 2011, BJ & Wilson have been absolutely Rocking their beautiful New Normal, and now, they’ve both graduated from Santa Fe College, where BJ earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Multimedia & video production technology. Both BJ and Wilson looked the perfect pair in their matching graduation caps.
WPBF covers the story of Amber Muller a Marjorie Stoneman Douglas High School shooting survivor, who is raising funds to cover the costs associated with a medical service dog from Guardian Angels.
Guardian Angels never charges recipients for their service dogs, but many recipients and applicants raise funds to help cover the costs associated with their dogs, to make it possible for others to be paired.
View the full story here:
Nathan Havenner, Reporter, through The Gazette in Medina, Ohio has just published a great story on Recipient, Bryan, his post-military struggles after injuries from 2 roadside bombs in Fallujah, Iraq, and his pairing with Guardian Angels Medical Service Dog, Fahrny.
Fahrny’s training was sponsored by the amazing team at Armstrong Cable, who have run a multi-year fundraising campaign called Healing Heroes to pair veterans in their service areas with Medical Service Dogs from Guardian Angels. You can learn more about their incredible efforts by visiting:
Read the full story here:
Photos of Bryan meeting Service Dog, Fahrny for the 1st time
Stahls’ Automotive Museum Raises Funds for Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs – by Melissa Walsh
This month’s Grosse Pointe Magazine has published a fantastic story about the incredible people at Stahl’s Museum, and their fundraising efforts this past Veterans’ Day weekend. Read the story here:
Army Magazine features Guardian Angels’ own National Canine Program Director, Nate Burney
While we attended the AUSA National Convention this past October, Army Magazine’s Gina Cavallaro asked to sit down with our National Canine Program Director, Nate Burney.
The article was just released in their January, 2018 issue. In the article, Nate talks about his experience in their “Seven Questions” segment about both his military service, and his experience with Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs, how his work impacts his life and his calling to help his military brothers and sisters.
Nate says: “When I get up and go in every day, it’s not work. It’s something that fulfills me”.
To enlarge, click on the image. Read the full article here:
By Linda Wilson Fuoco / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
John & his #ServiceDog, Ranger
Every day Army Capt. John Kelly sees a reminder of his 2009-2010 deployment in Afghanistan. Inked on his right forearm is a large tattoo of six military“dog tags,” each inscribed with the name of a friend killed in battle.
“I saw people get killed — bad guys and good guys … including a friend bleeding out on the ground. I got blown up a couple of times. It was a tough deployment,” says the field artillery officer and paratrooper as he sits with his family in the kitchen of his Jefferson Hills home.
After 10 years in the Army, he was honorably discharged in 2011. He current serves in the Army Reserves. The 33-year-old lives with what some call the “invisible wounds” of war — PTSD and traumatic brain injury.
“I fought for five years against depression, anxiety, panic attacks, hypervigililance and nightmares,” he says.
Despite the support of his wife, Virginia, who he said “was a saint,” the joy he felt when their son Jackson was born four years ago was outweighed by anxiety about illnesses or accidents that could harm the baby.
“I really, really struggled. I thought I would never be happy again. I made a plan for suicide.”
Capt. Kelly tells his story while petting the head of the 90-pound German shepherd who entered his life in August 2016. “Ranger saved my life. My purpose in this world is to tell people about this dog.”
He travels the country with Ranger, speaking on behalf of Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs Inc., the Florida organization that trained Ranger and 179 other dogs since 2010.
It costs $22,000 to provide 500-2,000 hours of training per dog so that they can deal with the medical and psychological needs of their partner. Recipients don’t pay a penny; costs are covered by donations from individuals, corporations and organizations.
The Steelers organization paid for Ranger’s training. More than 60,000 football fans cheered as Ranger and Capt. Kelly were introduced on the Heinz Stadium field in November 2016, during a third-quarter time-out in a game against the Dallas Cowboys. The Pirates organization is also raising $22,000 for a medical service dog.
Capt. Kelly and Ranger spread awareness of the need for medical service dogs and encourage donations. He believes the dogs “can make a dent in the suicide rate” for soldiers and others with PTSD.
In August 2016, Capt. Kelly still had a “suicide plan” in place when he traveled to Guardian Angels headquarters in Williston, Fla. Trainers suggested he and the dog go to the motel to rest.
“I took a nap and had a nightmare. Ranger woke me up and that stopped the nightmare,” Capt. Kelly said.
That was the turning point in his recovery. The suicide plan was scrapped.
Ranger is never far from his side, Capt. Kelly says he sleeps better, has fewer nightmares “and I can handle anxiety and depression better. I’m also more connected with my family.”
Capt. Kelly also has sleep apnea, a potentially serious disorder. “When I stop breathing, Ranger wakes me up. “
Captain Kelly grew up in Bethel Park and Mrs. Kelly grew up in Dormont. They married in Texas in 2009 and moved back home in 2015. Capt. Kelly got a job that he loves as a public affairs specialist with the Army Corps of Engineers.
“I could not ask for a better employer,” he says. “Three hundred fifty people in the federal building (Downtown) love Ranger,” though they don’t get to pet him.
Ranger wears a black vest with an American flag and the words, “Service Dog. Do Not Pet. Guardian Angels.”
When Ranger comes home from work every day, “the vest comes off and he is a pet,” Mrs. Kelly says. Ranger plays with Jackson and the family’s female German shepherd, Kiska, 8.
“Ranger cannot fix everything, but he allows me to live a quality life and a happy one,” he says.
Vietnam veterans Anthony Accamando and John Piazza, business partners in Veterans’ Cable Services, started Life Changing Service Dogs for Veterans in 2015. So far they’ve raised $350,000 for 16 dogs, including Ranger.
When they started their campaign, an average of 22 military veterans committed suicide each day, according to the Veterans Administration. Their goal is to raise a total of $484,000 to fund 22 dogs at $22,000 each in the 22-month period that ends on Veterans Day, Nov. 11. .
Carol Bordon is the founder and CEO of Guardian Angels Medical Service Dogs.
“I love Tony Accamando and I love Carol Bordon. They saved my life,” Capt. Kelly says.
Capt. Kelly and Ranger will be in Frick Park in Squirrel Hill next Saturday for the PNC annual Community Mutt Strutt, raising money for Ms. Bordon’s organization. There will be a dog parade, a dog costume contest, music, food and vendors from 10 a.m.-1 p.m. at the corner of Reynolds Street and South Homewood Avenue.
The cost is $22. Go to medicalservicedogs for more information and advance registration.
Last year, 400 people and 200 dogs raised a total of $200,000. Combined with donations, that was enough to train nine dogs.
Linda Wilson Fuoco: lfuoco@post-gazette.com or 412-263-1953 or on Facebook.
You can also view the article on the Pittsburgh Post Gazette website here:
