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My name is Cory and I am a combat veteran with two combat tours to Afghanistan as an Armored Reconnaissance operator now diagnosed with PTSD and Social Anxiety.

I am a proud father of 3 beautiful children and fiancé to an amazing woman. It is primarily for them that I am seeking a service dog and asking for your donations to this amazing organization.

It took me a while to admit that I needed help as in the military you are seen as weak or unable to do your job if you admit you are struggling. So in turn you push your feelings and emotions down until one day, you never know when, but all those feelings and emotions come rushing out and you break down. When you add children to the mix and now have those little people that you need to protect at all times, that just adds fuel to an already burning fire. And that is exactly what happened to me in the middle of a Costco. I broke down, overwhelmed by the amount of people around me, not being able to see everybody's hands. All of a sudden I was back in Afghanistan and everyone seemed like a threat. I broke into a full body sweat and started having trouble breathing. I left my basket where I was and exited the building to my car where I had a full breakdown and let years of bottled up emotions out all in that instant. It was at this moment I said out loud that I needed help.

So the next day I reached out to Veterans Affairs Canada (VAC) and started the process of being evaluated. Since then I have been in therapy since 2021 and have been diagnosed with PTSD, Severe Social Anxiety and Somatic Pain disorder. This cocktail of mental and physical Illness keeps me feeling trapped inside my house and not wanting to leave. It keeps me from being the father I want to be to my children and the man I want to be to my fiancé. So my therapist recommended a service dog and led me to K4PAWS so through the acquisition of a service dog, I hope to once again be the confident man I once was and get back out into society.

If you have made it this far thank you for listening to my story. I’m very grateful to have been approved to receive a Kingston 4 Paws Service Dog and your support would be amazing. Every donation helps this organization continue to do the wonderful work so that people like me, and so many others, have the opportunity to get back out into the world and live more independent and fulfilling lives.

Sincerely,

Cory