Success Stories
Gwen Beebe and Jett

Imagine being in an electric wheelchair getting into your van in a city parking lot. You are backing the wheelchair up the ramp into the van, when your purse and glasses slide off your lap and down the ramp. Your purse lands on the pavement and your glasses on the ramp in front of you. You try to reach for them but you feel yourself sliding out of the wheelchair. If you drive your wheelchair down the ramp to reach your purse you will run over your glasses. It sounds like a bad comedy, right? Do you call out to someone? Would they run off with your purse? Do you run over your glasses? You look around and see no one. This situation happened to me! After a few minutes two ladies passed by and I called out to them for help. Since I was peering around the corner of the open side door of the van, they were as hesitant of me as I was of them! I was blessed they helped me and it all turned out well.

My name is Gwen Beebe. I'm 48 years old [in 2009] and I live in Carrboro NC. I was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy at age 14. The disease progressed slowly as I grew up and then I had a family of my own. My daughter is grown now and I live alone. For the last 15 years I have worked in Animal Control and animal shelter work. Through it all I never stopped working. I still work a regular work week even though I was confined to an electric wheelchair in 2007. Now simple tasks are hard. Lifting, stretching, and reaching are hard for me, too, because I have limited upper body strength.

When Karen Brown, founder of NLMAD, called and said she had a dog for me, I was ecstatic! I met Jett, a 1 1/2 year old border collie who had been rescued from a shelter! He is a beautiful dog with a great personality and he is exceptionally smart! Jett would have retrieved the purse and glasses down the ramp!

I am able to walk a few steps around my house. My bathroom is too small for my wheelchair, so I have to walk to it. I am always concerned I might fall and be injured. How would I get to the phone?

When I go out, I often have trouble opening doors because they are too heavy. Sometimes I've been stuck in bathrooms and had to wait for someone to come along.

For me, an assistance dog would be independence, safety and companionship. A friend to help shut doors behind me, extra arms to reach for items dropped, a helper to take off shoes and socks, a doorman to hold doors, a laundryman to get clothes from the back of the dryer, a cook to reach pots in a cabinet, a lifesaver to bring the phone in an emergency, and as only a dog can do, give unconditional love!

NLMAD helps improve the quality of life for people and animals, but it can't be done without your help! Please find it in your heart to make a donation to NLMAD. Thank You!