Hello everyone! Our names are Mary and Andrew Forst and we are fundraising for our

son Chase to receive a service dog! Chase is a 6 year old boy of the Tuckerton Community, and

brightens every room he waltzes into. He is smart, witty, and loves to make those he cares about

smile through his jokes. At home Chase lives with his parents, and his twin sister Kalleigh.

When Chase was 22 months old, he was diagnosed with epilepsy. For a little more perspective of

the weight this sweet boy carries on his shoulders, Chase's symptoms present through focal

seizures which cause him to be unresponsive. As you can imagine this can be scary for us as

parents, his sister, and of course Chase! His seizures only occur when he is sleeping, and he is

required to be administered medication in order for him to come out of this state. As terrifying as

this can be for us as a family to readjust our lives for the safety of our child, SUDEP or Sudden

Unexpected Death in Epilepsy is a greater fear we bear as a family.

These episodes can be unpredictable and understandably create stress and concern for

both Chase and our family. To give us a little more sense of security at night, Chase sleeps with

us. Where Chase goes, Kalleigh is not far behind. Today the twins are in kindergarten, that in

mind, the bed is getting a little tight. With that being said, we have recently got the opportunity

to provide Chase with a service dog. The dog will be trained to detect the signs of what happens

before he has a seizure, and will know to alert someone for help. A service dog would enhance

not only Chase’s quality of life but our family as a whole.

A service dog would allow him to focus on being a kid instead of his medical condition.

Having an animal looking out for his signs and symptoms while no one else is around would be

beneficial in giving Chase more freedom as well as giving us as parents a peace of mind when

we can’t be around to watch him. A Seizure Alert dog gives him more independence to live a

more normal life and finally get to sleep in his favorite Jeep shaped bed. As you can imagine itcan be scary to come out of a seizure especially as a child, and a service dog would also provide

him with a bigger sense of comfort.

As a family we don’t like to ask for help, but sometimes it takes a village. This is one of

those times where we would move mountains for our child. If it means swallowing our pride, it

would mean the world to know people are out there willing to help us. Any donation is never too

big or never too small, and we are just grateful to have the opportunity to give this to our son.

Training a service dog to meet our child’s requirements can be very costly. On average it costs between $40,000-60,000 to raise, train, and place a service dog at 4 Paws for Ability. While 4 Paws for Ability fundraises to help cover a significant portion of this cost, families are tasked with raising $20,000 of that amount or $23,000 if receiving a poodle, doodle or papillon. We hope that we can receive assistance from our beloved family and friends to help make our service dog dream a reality.