Press Release: Chi Chi the Rescue Dog // GoFundMe

GoFundMe: Chi Chi’s Recent Medical Expenses
https://www.gofundme.com/chi-chi039s-recent-medical-expenses

Campaign Description
Chi Chi is a 4 year old female Golden Retriever that was rescued in South Korea after being found in a trash bag with her legs bound. In order to save her life, portions of all four of her legs had to be amputated. She now lives in the USA, is able to walk, run and play when wearing her custom prosthetics and is a certified Therapy Dog.

Chi Chi has faced far too many medical issues for one dog during her short life. In addition to being a quadruple amputee, she has Lupus, Hypothyroidism and has battled 3 types of cancer (Nasal Cancer, 4 Mast Cell Tumors,   & Thyroid Cancer) and has side effects from the cancer treatments. The past several months have been very difficult medically for Chi Chi and have resulted in our family seeking care from a variety of specialists in order to provide her the best care possible. Our family and the team of veterinarians helping to care for Chi Chi are focused on giving her the best life possible. She remains happy and smiling and we are committed to providing her the best care possible as long as she continues to fight and maintain her incredible will to live, despite the challenges she faces every day.

Our family has spent more than $20,000 on Chi Chi from mid-August to mid-October 2018 on the following medical treatments:
Chi Chi has experienced significant inflammation in her brain since mid-August, resulting in ongoing neurological care, 2 MRI’s, bloodwork, medication and regular Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatments in order to manage the post radiation necrosis and edema in her brain. She had her first seizure on 10/11/18 and started new medication and treatment to help control and minimize the seizures.

She had another Mast Cell Tumor removed in September and also spent 2 days in the emergency vet for gastroenteritis and elevated liver enzymes. Chi Chi has lost all vision in her right eye and has been experiencing other vision issues requiring the ongoing care of an ophthalmologist.

Chi Chi has ongoing challenges associated with her amputations and receives regular cold laser therapy to promote blood flow and healing in her limbs and needs medications and treatments to manage the sores she develops from wearing her prosthetics.

Chi Chi has an integrated treatment plan that includes both traditional and holistic treatments. She has an internal medicine veterinarian that helps manage her overall treatment plan. Chi Chi takes a number of traditional and Chinese medications to manage her medical conditions.

We are grateful for everyone who is able to donate to help with Chi Chi’s medical costs. Any donation amount is appreciated, and please only donate if you are able to. Chi Chi and our family wouldn’t want anyone to be in a financial hardship because of donating to help with her medical care.

Please Help Her to Keep Moving Forward

Imagine, you’re 20 years old, your hopes and dreams before you, no reason to think you can’t achieve them. You study, you work hard, you maintain a 4.0 and are on the Dean’s list every semester. It seems everything you touch turns to gold.

Fast forward 2 years. All year, you’ve had to struggle. Financial aid was inadequate to cover everything. You move off campus to what you think will be better, less expensive living arrangements. But, roommates are wasteful and run up the utility bills making it difficult to afford other things, like food. You get a job, even though your school hours are already overloaded. You sell blood/plasma just to be able to buy groceries. It seems like everything is falling apart, but you still have the 4.0 GPA.

Then, the bottom falls out of your world. You wake up and there is an intruder in your room. You’re scared, but out of sorts because you just woke up. You can’t fight him off. He’s a full grown, 40-something year old man. He overpowers you. The next 16 hours of your life have him drugging and repeatedly beating and raping you. To add insult to injury, he steals your debit card. The police only charge him with kidnapping and credit/debit card theft.

Our youngest daughter does not have to imagine this scenario. She lived it. On 26 December 2017, she was brutally attacked in her room, while her friends were away on Christmas vacation.

She tried to continue on with her job and university courses, but fell into a state of depression and a life ruled by fear and nightmares. She couldn’t sleep, couldn’t function, couldn’t keep up with school work any longer. She left school and came home for her dad and I to try to help her recover from this traumatic experience.

Our daughter is receiving the help that we and professionals can provide for her. While she is healing physically, emotionally there is still much work to do. She wants to put this part of her life behind her and try to move forward. Returning to this university is out of the question.

Our daughter is heavily into the theater. Our town offers community theatre opportunities as does the local junior college, which she attended before leaving for the university. The junior college offers a cosmetology program that she thinks will ultimately help to further her career opportunities in costuming and stage makeup.

There is one glitch – a very big one, that we cannot overcome on our own.

Although the local school has tentatively accepted her, they cannot let her enroll without a copy of her official transcript from the university she was attending when she was attacked. This university has a hold on her transcript because when she withdrew, it left a balance of approximately $5,600. This balance was the stipend provided for living expenses during the semester. The majority of it went to pay the rent at the apartment complex where she was raped. The complex would not let her out of the lease. She has had to continue paying the rent there, although she has not lived there since late February. This stipend was not enough to cover the entirety of the lease agreement. There is money still owed for the months of June and July.

Our daughter did not ask to be attacked and have to leave school. Sometimes life brings other things our way and we have to adjust our plans. No matter what, we have to keep moving forward.

Please help our daughter to keep on the road to recovery. By helping her to pay off the deficit with the university so that they will release her transcript to the local college, and paying out the lease to the apartment complex that did not provide proper security to its tenants, she will be able to put that school, that city, and – maybe someday – that awful attack behind her.

Here are the needs:

$5600 to the university

$1400 to the apartment complex

$ 500 GoFundMe fees

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$7500 Total

Thank you for your help in our daughter’s recovery. May our Heavenly Father bless you all for your compassion and assistance. Please click the image below to go to the GoFundMe page.