By Ami Gordon

I always thought that Daisy’s story would come from Daisy herself, and yet here I am telling it since it’s so inextricably affected my life. How to even begin to describe Daisy or tell her story? Daisy is so beautiful; so full of life and joy. Daisy loves to play and swim and fetch.

The summer of Daisy’s fourth year of life, Daisy became suddenly ill over the course of several months, eventually leading to uncontrollable grande mal seizures. We drove Daisy to A&M’s College of Veterinary Medicine in College Station the day of her first seizure-the longest drive of my life. How was it possible that my vibrant dog was suddenly so violently sick?

After we arrived at A&M, Daisy’s condition quickly worsened, and Daisy fell into a coma for several days with virtually no hope of survival. But I couldn’t let Daisy go-not this way. Daisy hadn’t even spent one moment away from her family, and the idea of her dying all alone and scared was more than I could bear.

We stayed in College Station with Daisy during her coma, and every day I would go and talk to her. On the 6th day of Daisy’s coma, which was already several days after it looked like there was no hope, I walked outside of the veterinary clinic waiting for visiting time and prayed. I’m not a religious person, but I begged God to save Daisy and promised that if she could only come home for one day, one hour, I would spend the rest of my life saving dogs.

Moments later, it was visiting time with Daisy, and unlike the other numerous times that I had visited her that week without any reaction or sign of life, this time she blinked. It was only one eye, and only a crack of a blink, but it gave me the hope that I needed to not give up. The next day Daisy moved her tongue; the following day she cocked her head; and within days she was walking and coming home with us.

Daisy passed away August 13, 2016 after years of fighting GME. Although she had this terminal illness with no cure, thousand of pets were saved during her fight and continue to be saved in her memory. Every day with Daisy was a gift. Every second is a second that I never thought I would have with her and I’m so grateful for the gift of life that we were given and want to give back by caring for pets.

DaisyCares is Daisy’s dream of a world where pets are given hope-hope for food, hope for care, hope for love, and hope for life. Daisy’s life will be cut short soon, but with DaisyCares her memory and dream will live on through our efforts.

Thank you for reading about Daisy and her story. It’s profoundly inspired me to provide hope to pets by caring; I hope that it will inspire you to do so too.

Does Daisy inspire you? Share her story with your friends …