How to help
To make a tax-deductible donation that will go directly to the training of a PTSD dog for Ian Williams, checks can be made to 4 Paws for Ability, with Williams’ name on the memo, and sent to 4 Paws for Ability, 253 Dayton Ave., Xenia, Ohio 45385; or, donations can be given online at http://4paws for ability.org/donate-now/ and indicating Ian Williams in the memo field.
Xenia resident Ian Williams, 42, retired from the Air Force two years ago, after 21 years of service. Although he was at times based in Korea and Japan, he was deployed for ground-based service to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia and Kosovo, and suffers from PTSD as a result of time spent in war-torn areas. Early in December, Williams applied for a service dog through 4 Paws for Ability, an organization in Xenia that trains dogs to do behavior disruption.
“I know someone who has a service dog for PTSD, and I had a conversation with him about it,” said Williams, who is married and has four children and an 11-month-old grandson.
“My wife has done some research … . A service dog would help to alert me when I am having a panic or anxiety attack, to be my companion when I am having an episode and provide comfort for me,” Williams said of his decision to apply for a dog trained for PTSD alert. “The dog will also help me pick things up when my back is ailing me and I have limited motion.
4 Paws for Ability development director Kelly Camm noted that Williams’ dog would also “help him to be more independent — to help him stand and brace when walking, and comfort him during his darkest hours. Ian experiences flashbacks, and it is frightening to his family when this happens; they do the best they can to comfort him, but an additional tool to help would be a service dog.”
Williams qualified, and “we will be starting a dog in training,” Camm said. “But, he won’t get it until 2016 because we’re booked for 2015; we have so many qualifying applications that we can’t keep up.” 4 Paws will train and place 108 dogs in 2015.
“With the additional expanded 13,000 square foot facility we’re working on now, we’ll be able to train more each year,” Camm said.
Camm said that of the 108 dogs to be trained in 2015, only three will be for vets, and the rest are for children with disabilities.
It costs more than $22,000 to train each dog, Camm said.
There will be no cost to Williams for the dog or its training, but 4 Paws for Ability, a 501C nonprofit, would appreciate donations.
Williams’ desire and need for a service dog for the new year may be delayed, but the process has begun and he can look forward to 2016. “My family members are happy about me getting a service dog,” he said. “We love all animals and are looking forward to it.”
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