Linda & Lyric

“Lyric is an enormous blessing because she not only helps me with everyday tasks, but Lyric is my voice!” – Linda, teamed with Lyric in 2013

Being in a wheelchair, people were always staring. However, after losing her speech, Linda found that people didn’t know how to react around her. She would smile and motion that she needed something or needed help and people would just pretend they didn’t see her. Now, with Lyric, they are more than willing to help and they always smile. Everyone is much more accepting.
Linda has been a paraplegic since 1989. Life definitely changed and it has been a continuous process to learn that the wheelchair does not define her, it’s simply a mode of transportation.
To add to it, five years ago, due to a complication in surgery, her speech was affected. Now, to communicate she uses either her iPad or pen and paper to communicate. Linda says one of the greatest things to happen to her was being introduced to Freedom Service Dogs. She felt accepted right away and felt everyone was so patient with her as she wrote or typed out what she had to say. Because of Lyric, she no longer feels without a voice! She says that she is speechless (no pun intended) with what FSD has done for her life. And is overwhelmed with the team’s willingness to give of themselves with long hours of training, sleepless nights, 24/7 support and meetings to ensure everything is just right.
Lyric spent almost a year in training and helps Linda in so many ways. She picks up anything that Linda drops, opens and closes doors, helps pull her wheelchair out of the snow if she gets stuck and even helps with the laundry, pulling the clothes from the dryer. Simply knowing she is by Linda’s side has made her more confident and independent. Her family, including her two grown kids in college, feel so much better knowing that Lyric is always by Linda’s side and there for her.
Linda wants FSD donors to know that a gift to this organization is not just monetary. It is eternal, the ability to truly make an amazing difference in the lives of so many.