Quinn is our curious, adventurous little girl who loves playgrounds, swimming, swings, books, amusement park rides, and exploring everything around her. If there’s something new to discover, she’s usually the first one headed toward it. We often joke that she’s fearless—and we’re probably right!

If you know Quinn, you know she doesn’t let much slow her down. She loves to laugh, climb, swing, ride roller coasters, and explore the world with endless curiosity.

She also has the biggest heart. Quinn loves giving hugs, snuggling with her family, and spending time with her big sister, Reagan. Although talking is still difficult, she finds so many other ways to connect with the people she loves through smiles, hugs, sign language, gestures, and her AAC device.

In the summer of 2025, when Quinn was just 2½ years old, our lives changed overnight.

Without warning, she lost her speech. 

Before that, she was a happy, talkative toddler. Then, over a matter of days, the words she had worked so hard to learn simply disappeared. As parents, watching your child suddenly lose the ability to tell you what she wanted, what she needed, or how she felt is heartbreaking.

After months of appointments, testing, and hospital stays, Quinn was diagnosed in October 2025, just before her third birthday, with a rare form of childhood epilepsy called EE-SWAS (Epileptic Encephalopathy with Spike-Wave Activation in Sleep).

Unlike the seizures most people picture when they hear the word epilepsy, Quinn’s epilepsy was disrupting her brain while she slept. Night after night, the abnormal electrical activity interfered with the brain’s ability to strengthen the connections responsible for language, learning, memory, attention, and behavior.

Since her diagnosis, Quinn has undergone countless EEGs, MRIs, medication changes, therapies, specialist appointments, and hospital stays. Every decision has been made with one goal in mind: giving her the best chance to regain the skills she lost and continue growing into the little girl she’s meant to be.

Today, we’re beginning to celebrate those victories. Every new sound, every conversation through sign language, every successful use of her AAC device, and every small step forward reminds us that healing is possible, even when progress comes in one very small grain of sand at a time.

As Quinn grows, our greatest hope is that she can continue experiencing the same adventures every child deserves.

A service dog from 4 Paws for Ability will become much more than a companion. The dog will provide an additional layer of safety because of Quinn’s epilepsy, help reduce the risk of wandering, support her growing independence, and give our family greater confidence to continue taking her on the adventures she loves.

Our goal has never been to limit Quinn’s world because of her diagnosis.

We’ve always believed Quinn deserves every opportunity to experience childhood—not from the sidelines, but right in the middle of every adventure.

A service dog will help us continue making that possible by giving Quinn another layer of safety, greater independence, and the freedom to keep exploring the world she loves.

Your generosity will help us bring home Quinn’s future service dog through 4 Paws for Ability.

Every donation, regardless of size, brings us one step closer to providing Quinn with another layer of safety, confidence, and independence.

More importantly, your support reminds our family that we are not walking this journey alone.

The past year has taught us that healing rarely happens all at once.

Instead, it happens through countless small moments—a new sound, a shared laugh, a successful therapy session, a new way to communicate, or a day filled with adventure.

Thank you for believing in Quinn and becoming part of her journey.

Thank you for helping Quinn keep saying “yes” to adventure.

Small Steps. Big Adventures.

With gratitude,

The Madson Family

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.