Courtice girl’s injured ‘best friend’ receives a little aid from lemons
Her lemonade stand raises cash to help buy Copper a wheelchair
A resourceful little girl in Courtice has set up a lemonade stand to raise money to buy her paralyzed dog a wheelchair.
“I want to take him for walks ... and I love him,” said Emma Wilson, who turns 4 at the end of the month.
Emma has alway had Copper, the energetic puggle, as part of her family.
He’s her best friend, explained Emma’s grandmother, Michelle McQuillan.
In late May, Copper jumped into the family’s van and slipped a disc in his back. The beloved dog (who turns five in September) has IVDD (intervertebral disc disease).
Now Copper’s back legs don’t work and he can’t wag his tail.
He’s been on crate rest for weeks but fortunately he is as happy, social and energetic as ever.
LEMONADE from GT1 “It’s been a really hard adjustment. She’s having a hard time with it.” SHANNIN WILSON EMMA’S MOM
Copper’s crate rest may have been as hard on Emma as it’s been on him. She misses when he could jump up onto her bed and fall asleep next to her. Emma is longing to take him for a walk around the neighbourhood.
“It’s been a really hard adjustment,” said Shannin Wilson, Emma’s mom.
“She’s having a hard time with it.”
That’s why Emma decided to open a lemonade stand to help buy a doggy wheelchair for Copper. Custom dog wheelchairs can cost thousands of dollars, but a ready-made dog wheelchair ordered online costs between $300 to $600.
In her first few days of lemonade sales, Emma has already raised $154 from family, neighbours and construction workers who happen to be working in the area near her home. Emma holds up 10 fingers when asked how many customers she’s had so far.
“Everybody gave me lots of money ... These ones are lucky,” Emma said, holding up a penny.
Within minutes of her statement, a dog-loving neighbour bought a cup of lemonade with a Ziploc bag full of toonies and loonies.
Wilson has recently finished her maternity leave with Emma’s baby sister, Charlotte. She works as an early childhood educator for the school board and is off without pay over the summer. The family has struggled with Copper’s recent veterinary costs but they plan to cover the remaining amount needed to buy a ready-made dog wheelchair. When Emma is wearing her favourite yellow princess dress, selling lemonade from the edge of her driveway, Copper can be found laying in the grass nearby
He scoots around to greet her customers, neighbours and their dogs.
The family tries to keep Copper off the cement but his energy makes it hard to keep him from scraping up his hind legs on the sidewalk and driveway.
“He was always hyper. He still is,” Shannin. Wilson said.
“He’s so good with the girls. Even when he’s sick he doesn’t bite.”