We received this letter and wanted to post it here in the hopes some of you will be inspired to help Maggie.

January 11, 2007

Dear Kind-Hearted Person,

Flying Change is a 501(c)3 non-profit in Atlanta that uses horses in psychotherapy with children in crisis. We have a program called HopeFoal of Georgia that pairs rescued foals (baby horses) with teenagers in therapy. The teens we serve come from very troubled backgrounds – most have suffered abuse, abandonment, violence and neglect. The teens learn to nurture, protect and parent the foals as part of their own therapy.

I am writing on behalf of one of our HopeFoals – Maggie. We rescued Maggie from slaughter when she was five months old. Like our other HopeFoals, we brought her down from Canada just after she had been weaned from her mother. She had never been handled by people and wouldn’t let anyone within ten feet of her without running away. You could see the fear in her eyes. Over the course of the next few months, our therapy kids and volunteers developed a relationship with Maggie, slowly gentling her, and teaching her to be fed, petted and handled. I wish that you could see what happens between our kids and their foals. They both start out so hurt, afraid and distrustful. With time, patience and understanding they begin to build a bond. For many of the kids, it is the first loving relationship they’ve had. Little by little, the kids and their foals become stronger, healthier, and more resilient. Maggie is a little over a year old now, and she and the kids that have healed in therapy with her are part of this miracle.

Over the weekend, Maggie broke her leg. It is a very serious injury and needs surgery. If we do not give her the surgery she needs, she will die. The surgery is expensive and we need help in the form of donations and publicity. This is more than a chance to save Maggie’s life - it is an opportunity to teach our therapy kids about commitment and real love. For these children who have had so much loss and seen so much darkness already, this is an opportunity to show them the value of loyalty to those we love and the strength of human kindness in the world.

Here’s how you can help.

MAKE A GIFT. All donations are tax-deductible. Support can come in the form of individual donations, foundation grants, or corporate sponsorships. Donations can be made via PayPal to the email address hopefoal@mindspring.com or checks written to Flying Change can be mailed to 4470 Seminole Dr. Acworth, GA, 30101.

PASS IT ON. If we care enough to forward this letter to everyone we know and make whatever personal contribution we each can, we can give Maggie the chance that she deserves.

Maggie has given so much to our kids. She has had a life-changing impact on the children who love her. She is not just a horse to us. She is family, and in our hearts Maggie is irreplaceable. She’s not a big horse, but in spirit she has the heart of a lion. Maggie is not afraid of a fight and it is not in our hearts not to try. She faces a challenge in recovering from this injury, but we know her. We know her heart, and our money is on Maggie. Please join us in giving her all the support we can to heal.

You can find additional information about HopeFoal and ways to help at our website, www.flyingchange.org or email me personally at seelisgo@yahoo.com.

On behalf of Maggie and our kids, thank you from the bottom of my heart for your help.

Lissa Corcoran
Executive Director
Flying Change Equine Therapy
(404) 512-0834
4470 Seminole Drive
Acworth, GA 30101

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UPDATE FROM LISSA AT FLYING CHANGE
January 13, 2007

HOW DID IT HAPPEN? WHAT IS THE INJURY?
It was basically play drive. One of our other HopeFoals, Josh, “found his jump” on Friday and jumped the gate out of the paddock - quite the athlete, it was a four foot gate and he hopped it from a walk. Later in the day, Maggie tried the same and we think she caught her leg as she came down in back. She broke her right stifle. It is tough to describe the break very well without the skeleton Dr. Mueller used to explain it to me, but it was the femur in the stifle, sort of behind the patella where the femur comes into the joint. As I understand it - I’m not a vet, so I may not be quite right, but this is my understanding. It is a challenging injury to say the least and the vets are very cautious about her prognosis, but so far she’s doing great and as long as we can afford to treat her we feel very optimistic. The vets know the injury, but the kids and I know Maggie. She has a lot of fight - even as she was coming out of anesthesia in recovery she was sort of shoving the intern holding her head as if to say “I’ve had about enough of this!” Not every horse could recover from something like this but we know Maggie and think it all depends on her will. If it can be done, Maggie can do it and, so far she is!

WHAT ARE WE DOING TO HELP HER? WHAT IS HER PROGNOSIS?
Tuesday morning we took a leap of faith and told the surgeons to try the surgery rather than euthanize her. We haven’t raised all the money yet, we just stepped up to the plate trusting that we can do this for her, we have to do this for her, she is our family and it is the only decision we and our kids can live with.

The first hurdle was the doctors’ fear that the leg might be broken into too many pieces to repair, but when they opened her up, the leg was in two pieces they were able to plate together. They operated from 9:30 AM until 5:30 PM with a team of seven and repaired the leg using a plate and 13 screws. The second hurdle was the risk that when she stood up from recovery she would break the hardware they put in if she wasn’t careful. She stood up Tuesday night and is past that hurdle. Every hurdle she gets over gets us that much further but she is still in very grave danger. She has to stand on the leg just enough to trigger it to heal but not too much or the plate could break, as it is so new in the bone. She runs a bigger risk of this because she is so young that the bone is still soft. She is like our own little Barbaro - it is a balance of multiple things that could help or hurt her, and all we can do is pray and continue spreading the word and raising money to give her the care that is keeping her alive.

So much will depend on Maggie’s spirit. She is being treated by the dean of the UGA Vet school and he has recruited two other orthopedic surgeons to help him. Maggie is a smart, calm, cooperative filly so we have the best patient we can ask for. Maggie is a lot like our therapy kids - we can’t fight her fight for her, but we can give her all the comfort and support we can, a team of professionals to treat her, a safe place for her to heal from trauma and all the love in our hearts. We’re sending the word as far as we can and asking others to do the same. Every little bit counts when enough people give what they can. I believe that we can raise this money.

HOW MUCH DO WE NEED? HOW MUCH HAS BEEN RAISED?
It is hard to tell how much we have raised because many people email that they are mailing a checks but don’t say the amount, so we never completely know what the tally is. In terms of checks collected, I think we’re at about $1,500 so far but money is still coming in (thank you!!!). It is really phenomenal when you figure that so many of those gifts are $20. SO many people are helping her and she is lucky to be part of such a loving community!

We are looking at probably $5,000 for the surgery and then the unknown is what her recovery will cost because it depends on so many factors. We have to keep the risk of infection under control, guard against founder in the other leg, keep her sedated enough to stay quiet but not so much that she tries to lie down, and give her enough pain medicine to keep her comfortable while simultaneously preventing her from getting stomach ulcers. We can offset the cost of the surgery by getting gifts in kind from the pharmaceutical companies that make her meds - Pfizer, Schering-Plought, and Merial. Money is vital but we might also be able to help by having people email these companies and ask that they help Maggie by donating the drugs she needs. Another route is that UGA could decide to make hers a teaching case and give us a discount. This is another place where showing how much the public cares about her can go a long way. The head of the large animal hospital is Dr. Doug Allen and he was one of her surgeons. His email address is dallen@vet.uga.edu. Please ask everyone you know to send him emails and let him know where they are from (to show international support) thank him for the miracle they have given Maggie so far and ask him to do everything in the University’s power to help Maggie. This is where our community support can really make the life or death difference for Maggie.

HOW IS SHE NOW?
Maggie is doing better than anyone expected and has become a favorite at the hospital. When she first entered the hospital her prognosis was that she had a 10% chance of survival even with the surgery. She has amazed everyone so far and I truly believe that she feels all of us out here routing for her. I saw her last night and she nickered at me as I entered. For now she is standing well on the leg and hasn’t shown any sign of infection. This could turn at any point, but for now, we are very happy. She is doing her part by staying calm and we are doing ours by raising money for her to have the care she needs, encouraging her team and sending prayers and good wishes her way.

HOW CAN YOU HELP HER?
CONTINUE TO SPREAD THE WORD. Post Maggie’s story and updates wherever you think kind-hearted people might see it. The more people wishing her well and showing their support, the better! (Plus, we all know that horse people often don’t have much money to give – we don’t have money, we have horses – so getting the word to a lot of people who can give a little for her will be more successful in giving her what she needs.)

GIVE A GIFT. All gifts are tax-deductible. Gifts can be made online through PayPal to hopefoal@mindspring.com. Checks written to Flying Change can be mailed to 4470 Seminole Dr. Acworth, Ga. 30101.

THANK HER VETS. Send Maggie’s vets an email and let them know that we believe in Maggie and appreciate how hard they are trying for her! Dr. Mueller’s email is emueller@vet.uga.edu and Dr. Doug Allen’s email is dallen@vet.uga.edu.

I can’t tell you enough how grateful I am to every single one of you. Maggie is alive and getting the care she deserves because of you! I am proud to be part of such a kind, generous community!

I’ll try to send some new pics of Maggie post-op tomorrow!

Lissa