By RNN Staff
(RNN) – A diabetic boy in Michigan couldn’t ride the bus without an aide, so naturally he wanted a service dog who could help him do the same things as the other kids.
The dogs “are trained to alert diabetic handlers in advance of low or high blood sugar events before they become dangerous” according to the organization Diabetic Alert Dogs of America. The only problem is that they can be pretty expensive.
So the boy, 6-year-old Ian Unger, came up with a solution: He’s selling pumpkins.
He began planting pumpkins this summer, CBS News reported. He “didn’t really take care of them,” his dad, Jeff Unger, told the news outlet, but that apparently didn’t matter all that much.
“Let me tell you, he grew a lot of pumpkins. Him and his mom counted over 150,” Jeff Unger said.
Ian Unger has been selling the pumpkins at $5 and $10 a whack, depending on the size, according to a Facebook post by his mom, Katrina Christensen, last month.
On a fundraising Facebook page, she wrote, “He wants to ride the school bus like his friends. Unfortunately, the district refused his request due to no one being trained on the bus in case of emergencies.
“This has devastated him. He decided he was going to raise money to get an alert dog so he can ride the bus!”
Christensen said the alert dog can cost as much as $25,000. After her son’s story has gained attention on social media and in the news, they’re now at $24,485.
If Ian sells out of his pumpkins, that should just about make up the difference.
Copyright 2018 Raycom News Network. All rights reserved.
