The father of a Cavan boy, who has been announced as this year’s Woodie’s Heroes ambassador, has told Northern Sound of his family’s pride in helping the Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland charity.
Mark Gilsenan from Bailieborough told Northern Sound earlier how his son Daniel, who is autistic and non-verbal, was always a flight risk for their family and this caused his siblings to be “always anxious” about his whereabouts and prevented the GAA-mad family from travelling to games together.
Daniel even missed his sister’s Conformation last year. Mark said for a long time, the Gilsenan’s “couldn’t be a family as a whole”.
Speaking to Northern Sound, Mark said “Outings took a lot of forward planning, the family was always split like for example, both parents couldn’t go to watch one of the kids’ games as one of us would have to be with Daniel.”
That all changed, however, when Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland paired Daniel with Piper and now the family pet goes everywhere with them, keeping Daniel safe and feeling comfortable in his surroundings.
Daniel and Piper accepted the Woodie’s Heroes ambassador title on behalf of AADI, whose Heroes campaign has raised €3 million for Irish children’s charities since 2015.
The funds raised through the Woodie’s Heroes campaign will enable the charity to train more puppies and change the lives of more children like Daniel who need the support of a dog like Piper.
Mark urged people to donate at their local Woodie’s because the help his family received from AADI has improved all their lives immeasurably.
Anyone who would like to donate to Autism Assistance Dogs Ireland can do so by tapping at the till at any Woodie’s store or text AADI to 50300.
