Lynley Folio has health issues she has never had the carefree childhood most 6-year-olds experience.

“We brought Lynley home at eight weeks and when I first picked her up, I just knew something was not right. I have held enough babies, I just knew,” said her mother, Larissa.

Lynley has a rare genetic condition, 17q12 duplication, which occurs when a portion of chromosome 17 is duplicated, a brain condition and epilepsy, which causes her to have seizures every day.

“Life has not been easy for Lynley, yet she loves life and the only way we can give our daughter independence is to be able to purchase a trained epilepsy response dog,” said her mom.

A seizure response dog would allow Lynley to have independence that she would not be able to have otherwise, according to her parents, Mark and Larissa, who live in the Pleasant Valley School District.

The dog would comfort Lynley, lowering her heart rate and lessening the duration of the seizure.

Lynley has seizures in her sleep, and the dog will be able to notify her parents. She also wakes throughout the night, and the dog will be able to soothe Lynley back to sleep.

“She will benefit from these services and many others once she receives her seizure response dog,” explained Larissa.

The couple also have two grown biological sons, and adopted two young boys with severe medical problems. The boys need medical treatments to keep them from developing tumors, but both parents seem to take it all in stride.

Mark has supported the West End community for many years as an EMT, and Larissa is a teacher for Pleasant Valley School District,

Unfortunately, the cost for a trained seizure response dog is $17,000. Larissa applied for a grant online and received a letter stating they had approved $2,500 for the response dog.

The Folios feel they have connected to the perfect nonprofit organization with New Hope Assistance Dog Inc. It is a 501(c) (3). To learn more about the nonprofit organization or to make a donation for Lynley’s future response dog, go to newhopedogs.net or you can go to Larissa’s Facebook page to meet the family. and make a donation toward Lynley’s seizure response dog.