Puppy love
LOREN BENOIT/Press Camdyn Thompson, a 7-year-old from Post Falls, hugs Ellen Brown after she presented Camdyn and his family with a $5,000 check to cover the amount left needed to purchase a dog. Camdyn, who has Type 1 diabetes, has been raising money with his lemonade stand to buy a specially-trained medical alert dog that can tell if he has a blood sugar level that is too high or too low. Also pictured are Wade and Terina, and Camdyn’s sister Adalina.
By JULIA BENNETT
Staff Writer
POST FALLS — Wade Thompson seemed intrigued when the doorbell rang Thursday.
His 7-year-old son, Camdyn, hid behind him as he opened the door to a soft-faced stranger.
Grasping a pink checkbook, Ellen Brown stood in front of them.
Brown had read the story in The Press about Camdyn, a Type 1 diabetic who’s been holding lemonade stands to raise money for a medical alert dog.
Brown said she wanted to give Camdyn the remaining amount — $5,000 — needed to buy the dog.
“Terina, you have to come here,” Wade called to his wife.
She appeared behind him with the couple’s 1-year-old daughter, Adalina, on her hip. Mom and Dad both held back tears as they accepted Brown’s gift.
“I wanted to donate the money in my husband’s name,” Brown told them.
William Donald Brown died last July after battling multiple myeloma.
Brown said he was an outgoing and generous man from Louisiana and buying the dog for Camdyn was the sort of thing he would have done.
The Thompson family had raised $11,000 before the donation. They hope to adopt a specially trained medical alert dog from Diabetic Dogs of America in Las Vegas. The dog, which is trained to detect if Camdyn’s blood sugar level goes too high or too low, will cost about $15,000. Brown gave more than enough to make that happen.
Brown said she first tried to send the payment through PayPal, but it wouldn’t work. She decided she’d visit Camdyn’s lemonade stand, which he had planned to hold at Stacie’s Cakes in Post Falls, to hand him the money.
Bad weather intervened. The lemonade stand needed to be canceled.
Brown was undeterred. On her third try, she just walked up to the family’s front door unannounced.
“I am glad the PayPal didn’t go through,” Terina said. “It means so much when we have the ability to say thank you to their face, especially in this case.”
If the Thompson family chooses to go with Diabetic Dogs of America, they’ll be able to select the breed, gender and color.
“I for-sure want a black dog,” Camdyn said.
Wade said the family was considering an English Labrador retriever. They don’t know if they’ll be able to choose the dog’s name.
Training takes up to 10 months, and the newcomer could already have a name when it meets Camdyn.
The family has two dogs, a Pomeranian — Copper, who’s 17 — and a Malamute husky, Akela, 3. Wade and Terina, who have five children, have been preparing the kids for the fact that the new dog won’t be just another part of the family: He’ll be a service dog with a serious job.
“As we get closer and closer, there will be more ground rules,” Wade said. “The dog will be our pet — but it will be a working pet.”
The Thompson family said they’re thankful for the Kootenai County community’s generosity. Wade and Terina said they never could have imagined so much love and support.
“I am thankful for the good community people we have in this Northwest area — Idaho, Spokane. We have gotten letters from California and Utah,” Wade said.
“It just kind of makes you feel like a big hug,” Terina said, finishing her husband’s sentence.