Sylvia Nissen is using this year’s Sea Cavalcade Keats to Armours Mile Swim as a way to raise funds for Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs, which helps those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
She’s long been a visitor to the Sunshine Coast and felt the annual Sea Cavalcade swim was a great way to get her message out and raise funds for a worthwhile cause.
PTSD can develop after any traumatic event and often veterans and first responders are afflicted. PTSD symptoms include nightmares, flashbacks, avoidance of people, places and situations that bring back recollections of the traumatic event, negative changes in beliefs and feelings and being jittery or always on the lookout for danger.
The disorder can make daily life a struggle and there’s a high suicide rate connected to PTSD.
In B.C., Vancouver Island Compassion Dogs is making a difference by pairing up PTSD sufferers with specially trained dogs who support and help them. The dogs are able to wake sufferers from nightmares, ground them when anxiety sets in and act as a constant companion.
Nissen was moved when she learned about the Compassion Dogs program and felt the need to fundraise to support the effort.
“They do such great work and it costs about $10,000 to $15,000 a year per pair-up,” Nissen said.
“So what they do is they take either a rescue dog or another trainable dog and they pair them up with vets mostly, but it could apply to first responders too, and they basically train them for a year. They pair them up and they bond and it forms a great relationship and it makes such a difference in their lives.”
Nissen said that through fundraising the program can grow and she’s hopeful it will make its way to the Coast at some point, as she knows there are PTSD sufferers here who could benefit.
Her fundraiser swim will be alongside other Keats to Armours Mile swimmers on July 30 starting at 9:45 a.m. from Armours Beach in Gibsons.
She’s hoping to raise $5,000 in donations for the effort and she is also working on setting up a fundraiser at the Gibsons Legion. “The need is real and the program would like to grow across B.C.,” Nissen noted.
If you would like to give to Nissen’s effort, see tinyurl.com/y7e3dogz.
Find out more at www.vicompassiondogs.ca
