Adam wished to have a service dog so he could be more independent, as every teenager wants to be. Due to his medical conditions, Adam’s mobility is limited to wherever his wheelchair can take him, making buildings without wheelchair accessible ramps and doors a real challenge and being home alone an impossibility. Until now.
Fifteen-year-old Adam and his parents Joe and Kathy now share their Milwaukee home with Bonz, a gentle black Labrador Adam received as his one special wish from the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Wisconsin.
“A lot of other people at dog training wanted Bonz,” Kathy said. “But we got him because of the Make-A-Wish Foundation and he’s the best.”
The entire family went to dog training for months in order to learn how to handle dogs, how to read them and how to co-exist with them.
“We all decided we were going to make a commitment to it so it works for Adam,” Kathy said. “One for all and all for one.”
Now Adam, Kathy and Joe couldn’t imagine life without their fourth musketeer, whose talents and training allows Adam to stay home alone, something he could never do before. The two have also formed a life-long bond in just a matter of months, as is evidenced by Bonz’s “free-time” ritual.
“When I say ‘free,’ it means he can do whatever he wants,” Adam explained. “But when I say ‘free,’ the first thing he does is jump up and give me a hug, then he goes back to laying down by my side.”
Kathy, Adam and Bonz recently stopped by the Make-A-Wish office in Butler to personally thank the Foundation for making Adam’s wish come true. The threesome was all smiles – even Bonz, who became the first service dog to be given to a wish child by the Foundation.
“We wanted to come and visit,” Kathy said, “because we could never let words do justice to how wonderful this is.”
Adam’s wish was made possible by the generous donations of UAW-GM and Wisconsin GM Dealers.
This page can be found at http://www.wish.org/stories/animals/animals/adam_service_dog
©2006 Make-A-Wish Foundation®
