Rossville mother raising money for 8-year-old son's service dog

A Rossville mother is doing everything she can to secure a psychiatric service dog for her son.

Shawn Sondervan, 8, has had a history of medical and emotional issues in his brief life, having battled a heart defect, feeding tube and sexual abuse.

“We are talking about a little boy who has been through more than his share,” Stacey Sondervan said of her son.

Two days after his birth, it was discovered that Shawn had a heart defect. Four months later, his low weight and illness required placement of a feeding tube. That was followed by open heart surgery when he was six months old.

“Luckily, they were able to repair that, so we got through that,” Stacey said.

Shawn was two years old when he finally received a good bill of health over his heart.

The family was in New Jersey, and Stacey said life was “okay for a while” and made the move to Georgia while Shawn was 3.

“I have always been a stay-athome mom. Right after he turned four, I decided that when he started preschool it would be a good idea for me to start back at school,” she said.

The mother’s classes began four weeks before Shawn’s, so she accepted a friend’s offer to watch Shawn and her older daughter in the weeks prior to their school’s fall semester.

Shortly after preschool started, Stacey contacted authorities to report the friend’s 13-year-old son had sexually abused Shawn for that four weeks.

“I had to find out in court, when they read the charges, what really happened to my son — he was raped.”

That was not the charge filed against the perpetrator because Georgia law does not recognize rape between two males.

Shawn had told the teen’s mother about the abuse, but that information was kept from Stacey. It was only later that she discovered the Department of Family and Children Services had investigated the abusive teen due to his attempting similar abuse on his own sister.

Stacey said the boy confessed to abusing Shawn and pled guilty.

“Because of what happened to him, he is now PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder),” she said. “On top of the PTSD, we have found out that he also has Asperger’s, is ADHD and has a few other learning impairments.”

Adding to his trauma, Shawn’s mother said her boy had several medical emergencies — removal of his appendix and portions of intestines after a tumor was found — during the past year.

“My son is very scared, confused, just in a mental crisis, and he does not know how to figure this out,” she said, adding that he has seen a therapist several times.

“He is an angry little boy,” she said as she fought back tears. “Every day is a challenge for him from the moment his little eyes open to the moment he falls asleep.”

Stacey said the school has been very supportive, but it is still a daily challenge.

“He does not have friends,” she said. “I had a birthday party for him almost two years ago and nobody showed up.”

In addition to what has already happened, his mother said Shawn is afraid of other boys due to the teenager’s abuse.

“My son sits there and bangs his head and says that he is worthless and talks about wanting to die and kill himself,” she said.

Hope with a canine

Stacey said she and Shawn’s psychiatrist agreed that having a service dog would be useful in treating his Asperger’s and PTSD.

“It’s not a cure-all by any means, but is definitely a tool that can possibly really help his quality of life,” she said.

The family has a dog, but the service dog could help spot any and all of Shawn’s triggers even before anyone else — even Shawn — could.

Finding such a dog is neither easy nor inexpensive.

The cost for a service dog is $12,500, but the price could easily climb to $15,000.

Stacey has raised about $3,000 at this point, through a charity yard sale and from a page set up for Shawn at youcaring.com.

Asked how Shawn feels about getting a service dog, she said, “He is excited,” and she feels it would do wonders for his self-esteem.

Stacey said she is very grateful to the community for their show of support and that all she is trying to do is fix her son and make his life better.

“For an eight-year-old boy to go through what he has been through is more than most adults have been through in their entire life,” she said. “I need to show him there is hope, because he does not believe there is any hope for him.

“My son is very much into super heroes. Shawn needs some huge super heroes in his life.”