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Sisters thought they were rescuing one injured dog, but ended up with 10 perfect pups

"I just want her to have the best life, that's why I brought her home with me."

Sarah Bauer/GoFundMe

Sarah Bauer with her adopted dogs

It is hard to walk into a dog shelter without wanting to take them all home. In the case of Meghan Wedge and Sarah Bauer, one turned into 10—and quickly.

It all started outside Meghan's work in Dalton, GA. Some colleagues of hers came into the office and said that there was a dog badly injured in the parking lot just outside. As Wedge told PBS39, "As soon as she got up, she'd fall back down. When she did finally get up, you could see that she couldn't put her weight on her one back leg. I wanted to help her, so I started posting on social media, just asking if anyone was able to help this dog. I didn't want to call the pound on her. I was hoping to find her a home." That was when she made a phone call to her sister, Sarah Bauer, who lived in Quakertown, PA. At that moment, for the dog who would soon be named Izzy, things were about to change.

As Megan recalls, "Sarah was like: What if I take the dog? I said: Are you sure you want to do this? You don't know what you may be getting yourself into." But there was no talking Sarah out of it. They met in Virginia where Sarah met Izzy and took him home.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

The first order of business for Sarah was to take Izzy to the vet. That was when she learned how bad the trauma that Izzy had suffered really was. "Because of Covid-19 and everything going on, I couldn't go into the vet with her, which was hard in itself," said Bauer. "The vet comes out to my car and tells me that her hip is dislocated, she has abrasions on her legs and that she was probably hit by a car. She also told me that she was hit by buckshot. At that point, I started tearing up. To think that this sweet girl had been treated that way...I don't even want to think about someone hurting her on purpose."

As Sarah pointed out to PBS39 on Izzy's X-rays, "The tiny white dots—that's the buckshot—all over her body. This is just showing her abdomen. I also picked a couple out of her ears, arms and legs." As expected, when Megan heard this from Sarah it was heartbreaking. "When Sarah told me all of that, I started crying," said Wedge. "I have a rescue dog myself, and she was abused before I got her. To me, dog is God spelled backwards. Dogs are angels. I think it's sickening that people would even think about hurting an animal."

dogs, dog rescue, puppies, animal rescue, animals, petsSarah Bauer and her sister with IggyImage via GoFundMe

So Izzy had been hit by a car and had buckshot all over her body, but there was one more discovery about to be made. Izzy was also pregnant.

"The vet told me that she found a heartbeat," said Bauer. "So, just to know that a little puppy was alive after everything that her mom went through, that was incredible!" The thing is, they were wrong. It would turn out not to be a heartbeat. It would turn out to be nine of them.


dogs, dog rescue, puppies, gofundme, animal rescue, funnyIzzy, the original dog they thought they were adoptingimages.gofundme.com

"The vet tech came out and said: So, we don't just have a puppy, we have puppies! Do you want to guess how many? I said: Three or four? She said: Nine! I said: Nine puppies...that's crazy," said Bauer. "She's really come alive since the first time that I met her. I think the puppies really brought out the puppy in her. She manages pretty well, but I know that she's in discomfort every day, especially if she tries to go up or down steps or even just to run around with her puppies, she won't put weight on that leg. I just want her to have the best life, that's why I brought her home with me, I just want her to have a good life."

Sarah ended up with more $4,000 in vet bills but after support from several donations, including from Upworthy readers, she ended raising more than $5,000 for Izzy's care and recovery. It certainly sounds like Izzy could not have landed in a better home than the one she shares with Sarah Bauer.

This article originally appeared five years ago.

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Joy

Strangers rally to cry for help for 22-year-old mother given just four months to live

In 24 hours, people flooded the family with donations to hopefully buy Rachael Burns some time with her 1-year-old daughter, Raeya.

www.gofundme.com

Rachael Burns was given a dire prognosis as her daughter turned one.

Being given just a few months to live is a daunting prognosis for anyone, but when you're a 22-year-old mother with a 1-year-old daughter, it's particularly tragic. Your adult life has just begun. You are the world to your young child. Your partner is suddenly looking at losing you and becoming a single parent, all in one fell swoop.

Rachael Burns of Belfast, Northern Ireland, is facing that exact reality. Eight months ago, she began experiencing headaches, dizzy spells, and irritation in her eyes, according to Belfast Live. At first, doctors chalked it up to dehydrated eyes and she considered them migraines, but after an emergency trip to the hospital in early June 2024, Burns was diagnosed with diffuse midline glioma brain tumor—brain cancer with a rare, aggressive mutation that is spreading down her spine.

Because of its size and where it's located, doctors said there is no way to even attempt an operation on it. Consultants told her that anyone who came in with her symptoms and that diagnosis generally had 9 to 12 months to live.

"I’ve shown symptoms for the last eight," Burns told Belfast Live. “I was told to assume that that was the case and try to make the most of the next four months.

“I left that appointment with no real hope and I didn’t know how to tell my mum and the rest of the family, I didn’t want them to get upset. It felt like everything had just been taken away from me at that point."

Facing such a dire prediction, Burns began writing years' worth of birthday cards for her daughter, Raeya, who just had her first birthday. The only option appeared to be six weeks of radiotherapy, which would do little to help.

But research into experimental therapies unveiled a ray of hope to buy more time with her family.

"We've identified a potentially life-extending treatment in Germany, under the name of ONC201," the family shared on GoFundMe, "but it comes at a significant cost. Should Rachael qualify, we need funds to pay for travel costs, accommodation and the drugs themselves.

"We refuse to let financial worries hinder Rachael's fight for her life or deprive her and her daughter of precious time together. Our goal is to ensure their comfort should the worst come to pass. No one should go from celebrating their child's first birthday to facing a terminal illness so swiftly."

Not only did the local community of West Belfast turn out for this young family but people around the world did as well. In less than 24 hours, they'd raised £30,000 (approximately $38,000 U.S.).

mom and dad holding baby in front of a birthday cake

Donate to Support a young mother battling terminal cancer, organized by Rachael Burns.

www.gofundme.com

“I’m just totally overwhelmed by the response that we have got so far,” Rachael said. “Belfast is such a small place but you never think that people from all over would show as much kindness as they have done for me and my family. It is a scary time to be going through all of this but this has given me more hope that I can spend some more time with my family.”

Burns told The Irish News that the treatment she's seeking in Germany has extended the life of people with her diagnosis by as much as 22 months. That may not sound like much time, but in the life of a small child, it's hugely significant.

“My Raeya will always know just how much her mummy fought with everything in her power for even a quick glimpse of watching her grow into the beautiful, strong and kind girl I know she will be in this world," Burns said. “Situations are what you make of them and I refuse to just be another statistic.”

While the future is uncertain for the Burns family, the money that's been raised gives her the best chance for a miracle. Any funds that don't go to Rachael's treatment will go into a bank account for young Raeya "to support her in life for if the time comes when she loses her mother."

As of December 2024, Rachael made an update to her GoFundMe to share that, miraculously, her most recent MRU showed that the tumor was stable and had not grown since her initial diagnosis. Even better, the cancer seems to have vanished from her spine:

"Hi everyone it’s Rachael, haven’t posted an update since July so thought I’d come on and let use know how I’m getting on. I had my most recent MRI at the end of October and I was very grateful to find out my tumour was stable and had not grown since my diagnosis in May. They also discovered the cancer seems to have disappeared from my spine which is incredible news.

After hearing I may of only made it to October and now being here for Christmas shows just how well I’ve been looked after, I want to thank you all for allowing me to have access to private health care and treatment. I’m still a bit wobbly but I’m now able to walk without assistance and make memories with my family and friends and I can’t thank you all enough for allowing me the opportunity for more time.

Hope you all have a wonderful Christmas, love Rachael x"
Woman holds baby

Rachael and Raeya at Christmastime

www.gofundme.com

Rachael and her family are still taking donations through their GoFundMe and have come close to their goal. Access it here and be sure to spread the word. Every little action counts.


This article originally appeared last year.

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Family

When her 5-year-old broke his leg, this mom raised $0. It's actually inspiring.

Her crowdfunding alternative is so obvious, it's shocking America hasn't taken advantage of it.

OrthoIndy

A bad injury doesn't come with a cost.

Freddie Teer is a normal boy. He loves Legos, skateboarding, and horsing around with his older brother Ollie. But in March 2017, his mother faced every parent's worst nightmare.Freddie was doing tricks down the stairs of his front porch when he fell off his bike—and his bike fell on him. "[He was] just crying, wouldn't let us touch his leg, couldn't put any weight on his leg. We knew," mom Ashley says.

Ashley rushed Freddie to the emergency room, where an X-ray confirmed the bones in his left shin were broken in half. He needed to be sedated, his bones had to be set, and he was put in a cast. It was an agonizing day for the Teers. But it's what happened next that was truly inspiring.

green and yellow bike lying in grass beside red shoesFreddie fell of his bike—and his bike fell on him. Photo via iStock

We've all seen heartwarming stories of communities coming together to raise money online to help people cover medical care costs for themselves and loved ones.

There was the Kentucky mom with stage 4 cancer whose family collected over $1 million. The New Orleans police officer whose unit banked thousands for her chemotherapy. The Colorado man who lost his legs and whose friends crowdfunded his recovery.

various headlines

Many Americans raise money and receive donations to cover healthcare costs.

Photo byMonam/Pixabay

While Freddie's injury required major treatment, none of Ashley's friends raised any money for him.

No one from their town took up a collection or held a bake sale.

No GoFundMe page was started to help cover his bills.

Instead, Ashley and Freddie walked out of the hospital owing nothing. Because they live in Canada.

"You just leave," Ashley says. "You don't pay anything."

Incredible.

Under Canada's healthcare system, people like the Teers can see their doctors and go to the hospital when they're hurt or sick, and they don't get charged.

So heartwarming.

It almost wasn't this way.

Ashley was born and raised in St. Louis in the U.S. where health care is expensive and complicated. In 2005, she fell in love with a Canadian man and moved with him to Abbotsford, British Columbia, where they and their five children will enjoy heavily subsidized, affordable health care coverage at a low premium for the remainder of their natural lives.

"We're able to go when we need help and we get help," Ashley says.

Just amazing.

As Freddie recovered, no one showed up at the Teer home with a large check or collection plate full of cash.

Instead, Ashley and her family were "supported through meals and just that kind of care"—meals they were able to enjoy without having to decide between enduring the shame of hitting up their friends for money or facing the prospect of sliding into bankruptcy.

two boys playing outside

Freddie (right) and his brother Ollie.

Photo by Ashley Teer.

The most uplifting part? Middle-income Canadians like the Teers pay taxes at roughly the same rates as Americans and still get their bones fixed for free at hospitals.

Not everything about Freddie's recovery process was smooth.

The first night, Freddie tossed and turned in severe pain, unable to sleep. Ashley, however, was able to call her family doctor—who she never has to pay since he is compensated by a public system that continues to have overwhelming public support to this day (though support has dipped slightly in recent years)—to get her son a codeine prescription. Miraculous!

Canada's public health care plan doesn't cover drugs. But, inspiringly, because of price controls, medicine is way cheaper there.

The Teers did lean on their friends and family for help while Freddie got better.

"We were kind of just asking people to pray," she explains—primarily to lift her son's spirits, and not, thankfully, to ask God to provide sufficient funds to cover basic medical care that every human living in a fair and prosperous society should have access to.

Even though he wasn't able to move around, friends and relatives eagerly invited Freddie to hang out during his recovery instead avoiding him out of guilt for not pledging enough to his GoFundMe campaign.

young boy in a cast sitting by corn stalks

Freddie with his cast in the garden.

Photo by Ashley Teer.

Just. Wow.

With support from his community, Freddie's cast came off six weeks later, right on schedule.

Healthy once more, Freddie went right back to enjoying extreme sports like BMX biking, skateboarding, and snowboarding, and Ashley is free to let him enjoy them without worrying about one fall wiping out their entire life savings and leaving her family destitute.

"Where we live, we're not stressful when things happen to our kids," Ashley says. "It's not a stressful time financially, so the whole family is not anxious."

It's peace of mind that she—and the residents of virtually every other rational, wealthy, industrialized country in the world—share.

"I feel safe, and I feel like my voice is heard," she says. "I can't imagine living in a place that I didn't feel that way."


This article originally appeared seven years ago.

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Janitor has an incredible reaction to being gifted his dream Jeep by high school students

The students wanted to help the man because he was a "friend to all of us."

via GoFundMe

Students at James Madison Highschool with their janitor, Francis Apraku.

It’s not uncommon for the most likable person at any school to be the janitor. They’re the person the students can rely on whenever they’ve kicked a ball onto the roof or left their jacket in a locked classroom. They’re also right on top of things whenever there’s a nasty spill in the cafeteria or a leak in a classroom roof.

Simply put, schools can’t run without their janitorial staff.

One special janitor at a high school in Virginia was surprised when the students went out of their way to get him his dream car. “He’s more than just a custodian. He’s a dear friend to all of us. He’s just a very kind, genuine person,” one of the students said, according to KBTX.

In May 2024, some freshman students at James Madison High School in Vienna, Virginia, asked their favorite janitor, Francis Apraku, what he wanted for his birthday. He said his dream gift would be a Jeep Wrangler. "So, he told us his birthday's coming up and he told us he really wanted a Jeep and that was his dream car. That was his end goal in life, which was to get a Jeep Wrangler, and he was totally set. So we thought, 'We're gonna try to get him a Jeep,’" a student who helped organize the campaign said, according to WUSA 9.

Apraku came to the United States from Ghana, a country in West Africa located on the Coast of Guinea, 10 years ago.



The boys put together a GoFundMe campaign with the goal of getting their favorite janitor a Jeep by the time they graduated high school in four years. Little did they know they would have raised enough money in six months to make his dreams come true.

“We are freshmen at James Madison High School in Virginia and our favorite custodian, Francis, loves Jeep Wranglers. He moved to America away from his family and friends a few years ago. Ever since we met Francis, he has been super kind and friendly and sometimes even says prayers for us,” the students wrote on the GoFundMe page.

“We were talking to him today about what he would want for his birthday and he said he has always wanted a Jeep Wrangler but could never afford it, which is why we made this GoFundMe to try and raise enough to get Francis a Jeep Wrangler by the time we graduate. Any and all donations are very appreciated,” the post concluded.

The boys set a goal of $20,000, and they eclipsed it on September 7, 2024, so it was time to get Apraku his Jeep. The students bought the car with the help of Andy, a local car dealer.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

When the students brought Apraku to the school parking lot to show him his new red Jeep, he couldn’t believe his eyes. He fell to the ground and began rolling all over the ground. “Oh my God, Oh my God,” he said. “I don’t believe this is happening in my life…I give thanks to Almighty God for making today for me.”

Rewarding their favorite custodian was also a dream come true for the students. “I’m excited to see him whipping it around school, seeing him every day... He really deserves it,” one student said.



"We just kind of decided we were going to try to get him his Jeep Wrangler with the GoFundMe, and we never really thought that it would come this far," Logan Georgelas, one of the students who set up the FoFuneMe campaign, said according to Fox 5. "When we got $5,000 in the first day, we were like, all right, this is real."

After taking his first spin behind the wheel of his new Jeep, Apraku was impressed. "It's very, very fantastic. Very nice one,” he said, according to WUSA 9. He also had kind words for the community that bought him his new wheels. “So I would say thanks to [the students behind the GoFundMe] and especially the parents involved. Also, may God bless them.”

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