Pubdate: Sun, 05 Mar 2017
Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution (GA)
Copyright: 2017 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Contact:  http://www.ajc.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/28
Author: Adam Kincaid

HALEIGH'S HOPE

Janea Cox, her husband Brian, their 7-year-old daughter Haleigh and
their chocolate Lab Kala left their Forsyth home in December 2016 for
their semi-annual trip to Colorado. They flew into Denver and made
their way toward Colorado Springs in a rental car, squeezing the three
of them, a wheelchair and the dog into the small, four-door sedan. A
handicap-equipped van would have been better, but the economy ride was
what they could afford.

The family checked into a budget hotel and went to sleep; not that
they ever sleep well, or for very long. Young Haleigh was up through
the night, as usual. She has epilepsy so severe she requires constant
oversight. For most of her life, her young brain hasn't been
seizure-free long enough to develop normally. So she gets around in a
wheelchair, receives nourishment through a feeding tube and is barely
able to communicate. Haleigh is a prisoner in her own body.

She also has type one diabetes. Kala is a service dog specially
trained to check blood sugar levels by smell and alert handlers of
spikes - to do what Haleigh cannot do for herself, to speak out when
she needs help.
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MAP posted-by: Matt