CLEARWATER, Fla. — A Pinellas County family is keeping their daughter's memory alive by supporting therapy dogs at a local hospital.
The Chick-fil-A on Countryside Boulevard in Clearwater donated 20% of its proceeds to the Lyla Goode Foundation from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Wednesday.
Jason Goode created the foundation in memory of his 10-year-old daughter, Lyla, who died last September.
As a baby, she suffered sudden paralysis. Despite numerous efforts, his daughter never had an official diagnosis.
"She had paralysis from her neck down that suddenly came on, and from that point until she passed, we took her to various doctors in Miami, Houston, and Philadelphia to see if we could get her diagnosed and to find a path of treatment. Unfortunately, we never did get a diagnosis," said Jason.
The Lyla Goode Foundation supports the Pediatric Therapy Dog Program at Tampa General Hospital. During years of treatment, Lyla found comfort in the therapy dogs Belle and Millie.
"She would get her monthly treatments in every month, and the dogs were just such an important part of her treatment and just made her treatment just so much better. We thought of no better way to honor her legacy than to financially support those dogs," said Jason.
The dogs provide comfort to pediatric patients during minor procedures and scans. The dogs also comfort patients after traumatic events like car accidents. Money raised by the foundation pays vet bills, grooming, ongoing training, food, and medication.
Hundreds packed into the Chick-fil-A to support the foundation.
"Lyla was amazing. She was so special. She was a light in this world, really," said Stephanie Pierce, a family friend.
"She was just so joyful like she never had a frown on her face," said Hope Eaton, a family friend.
Her family said Lyla loved Chick-fil-A because she would go there after monthly treatments.
"Her brothers work at this location as well. All of those medical treatments she received made her very ill for 48 hours after she received them, and she had to do it every month. As you can imagine, that would begin to wear on anybody, and so Chick-fil-A was always the one big highlight that she could enjoy after her treatment before she would get sick, and it was a tradition that we had," said Jason.
Her family hopes to raise $20,000 to support the therapy dogs this year.
To learn more on how to help the foundation, visit here.
