Porsha had everything she ever wanted: her J.D., a military career, a daughter. But as she lay unconscious, alone and dying in her house, it all seemed to be slipping away. And that day after being rushed to the hospital for her third brain surgery, her future hung in the balance.

When Porsha was a little girl growing up in East St. Louis, Missouri, her life was nothing but closed doors. Her upbringing was less-than-traditional; she was on her own by the age of 13. By then, though, she realized that no door is ever closed if you want to open it badly enough. 

So she busted those doors wide open. Beginning with the day she watched ‘A Few Good Men’ as a child, she knew what she was meant to do in this life. She wanted to be a lawyer in the military, just like the hero of the movie. 

So she did it! Straight from high school to college, then college to the military, then the military to law school. She got her J.D. and was ready to begin fulfilling the destiny she created for herself. 

Amid all these triumphs though, there was a ghost haunting her, threatening her, slamming doors right in her face: Porsha has an incredibly rare (we’re talking less than 10 cases ever) brain tumor, called an Epidermoid Brain Stem Tumor. For almost 10 years, Porsha spent months at a time in the hospital, again and again, with no end in sight. 

In fact, she didn’t even know what the real problem was until she was being rushed into her third brain surgery 2 years ago. Doctors had diagnosed her with Chronic Migraines, bacterial meningitis, and other things that were adjacent to her real problem, but never spot on. 

Porsha had been abroad for the military on a mission in Germany, but was forced to come home because she was constantly sick, in the hospital, and in pain. So she came back home to the US, to her daughter. When she didn’t show up for work one day, her Commander knew something was wrong. He sent soldiers to her house, and they found her unconscious, alone with her daughter. 

She had been to the hospital 3 times that day already; they had told her she just had anxiety. With the help of her Master Sergeant, she was able to get through to the doctors. And finally, as she was being prepared for brain surgery, they found the real problem.

Her tumor had been poisoning her blood, giving her chemical meningitis. Again and again she would get sick, go through the brutal treatment, and go back home. The uncertainty of never knowing when it would strike, and if it would be her final stay in the hospital, plagued Porsha. The ghost followed her everywhere in the form of chronic pain which trapped her in her house.

This fear of everyday life doesn’t only affect Porsha, it affects her little girl, who Porsha worked so hard to bring into this world. Doctors and specialists told her she was unable to have children, but we know what Porsha does when told something is impossible: she does it. She and her daughter fought hard to be together. The tumor resurfaced while she was pregnant. She had her healthy baby, but she herself was struggling.

By 2017, Porsha was in so much constant pain that she was beginning to give up the fight. But her little girl is what gave her the strength she needed to soldier on. She wasn’t given this miracle baby just to leave her alone in this world.

Chive Charities wants to see Porsha living life again. We want to open a door that she is in too much pain to open for herself right now. We can’t heal her (which absolutely breaks our hearts), but we can give her something to make her days brighter and less filled with anxiety:

Meet Pearl, Porsha’s new Emotional Support Animal brought to you by a $3,300 grant from Chive Charities. This adorable mini goldendoodle is doing what puppies do best: bringing happiness. 

The two have only been together a couple days, but they are already best friends. In addition to being an adorable fluff ball, Pearl gets Porsha out of the house and into the sunshine. She adds structure and meaning and wet kisses and all those invaluable things only a dog can bring.

This is what Chive Charities is all about: making things even 10% better for Porsha, bringing 10% more smiles to those in pain, making one person, and then the world, 10% happier. You can help make that happen. Any donation helps us make dreams come true for an underdog. If you want to start changing lives like Porsha’s, become a monthly donor by clicking HERE.