The Decatur community has rallied together to support the local police chief, whose chronically ill daughter needs a seizure response dog.
Kynadee Campbell, now age 9, was born three months premature — weighing less than 2 pounds — and has faced medical complications her entire life. She suffers from respiratory and pulmonary issues, as well as cerebral palsy and epilepsy, WFAA reported.
She has been hospitalized numerous times and has had eight surgeries since her birth, according to her Facebook page, Keeping Up with Kynadee.
Most recently, Kynadee experienced 25 seizures over the last Labor Day weekend. The 9-year-old ceases breathing during these seizures and must be physically monitored when an episode occurs.
“And it didn’t matter what we did, they weren’t stopping,” said Ashley Campbell, Kynadee’s mother, per WFAA. “There’s been several times we’ve almost lost her.”
Kynadee ended up spending a month in the hospital. She is home now, but her neurologist has recommended that the family acquire a seizure response dog for her, as traditional monitors would be ineffective for the type of seizures she experiences.
Trained dogs of this type typically cost between $15,000 and $30,000 but can rise as high as $50,000, according to United States Service Animals.
When word got out that the daughter of the local police chief needed a seizure response dog, the local community began raising funds to make that happen. As of Wednesday morning, the K9 for Kynadee Campbell GoFundMe page had raised $43,375 of its $50,000 goal. Any funds raised beyond what is needed for the response dog will be used to offset Kynadee’s medical expenses.
“It’s shock and awe, to be honest,” Kynadee’s Dad, Delvon Campbell, said about the community’s response, per WFAA.
Chief Campbell said that parents in the community whose own children have died were dropping by the police station to bring donations.
“Either they’ve lost ’em through cancer or other things. And they’d stop by and say, ‘Look, here’s as much money as I can give.’ And I’m like, ‘Look, you don’t have to do that.’ But that’s what we have here,” Chief Campbell said, according to WFAA. “It just makes you think if we could all be like that, how much better our world would be, if we all did that every single day. You couldn’t ask for a better place than [Decatur].”
