American veterans – brothers, sisters, fathers, mothers, cousins, sons and daughters who selflessly volunteer to fight for our freedoms. They run towards the sounds of gunfire to protect. They know pain and suffering that no one back home will ever understand.
When their time of service comes to an end, those sounds of guns fired and feelings of pain and suffering often don’t go away. The physical battles may be over, but sometimes the mental battles remain. Twenty of every 100 U.S. veterans return home to battle Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
Some of these veterans are forced to combat PTSD alone. With no VA funding for service animals, veterans just simply cannot afford the cost of the trained dogs that they need.
For many of our veterans, life can be more than a struggle with PTSD, with some coming home with life-changing injuries. They go from being able to do everything to living with disabilities that can lead them close to being able to do nothing on their own.
Marshall Morris, founder of The Hero Company, was in basic training when 9/11 shook the world. While he was overseas, he saw the traumas that many of the fellow soldiers went through first hand. With all of this in mind, he launched The Hero Company to help fund service and companion animals for these veterans suffering with PTSD.
These service animals can be trained to provide balance, retrieve dropped items, open and close doors, turn on and off lights, carry a backpack, and much more. One of the most important things that both service and companion dogs can do is calm a person with posttraumatic stress disorder during an anxiety attack.
The Hero Company partnered with Patriot Paws, a non-profit organization that trains service dogs for veterans with mobile disabilities, to help fund the cost of training. With the purchase of a bracelet from The Hero Company shop, a portion of those proceeds are donated to fund service dogs for veterans.
Michael Ayres, a retired U.S. Army veteran, was deployed to Iraq in 2014 when he was injured in a motor vehicle accident, leaving him paralyzed waist down. Post accident, everything seemed nearly impossible. After years of struggling, he reached out to Patriot Paws for assistance, and was paired with his new service dog, a chocolate lab named Tango. Ayres describes Tango as an extension of himself – he essentially acts as Ayres’ legs.
“If I had never been paired up with Tango, I would still be struggling, hurting, and alone,” said Ayres. “It’s changed my life incredibly, especially with the bond we’ve made with one another. He makes me feel safe.”
To date, The Hero Company has raised over $500,000 and counting. They continue to march toward their goal of raising $10 million for veterans in need. To help a veteran be paired with their furry companion, purchase a bracelet from https://theherocompany.co/shop/.
Help The Hero Company go to battle for veterans with PTSD, just like they went to battle for us.
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