Matt Burgess spent 8 years in the US Army with deployments to Iraq, Bosnia, and Macedonia. During those deployments he experienced four blast explosions resulting in traumatic brain injury, as well as a reaction to the Anthrax Vaccination which resulted in eighteen medical conditions. Matt was medically retired from the Army in 2007 and granted 100% permanent and total disability rating from the V
eterans Administration. In 2013 Matt pet dog, Brinks was performing many lifesaving tasks for Matt. Consequently Matt wanted Brinks to be trained to be a service dog. Matt found an organization, and trained Brinks to be his service dog. Matt’s service dog, Brinks, wakes Matt up when he stops breathing at night, carries groceries, alerts Matt to changes in his health, brings Matts phone when he has blackouts, retrieves items off the ground which greatly reduces Matt’s pain level, and much more. Brinks is Matt’s lifeline. Matt started Freedom Fidos in order to provide other veterans the same quality of life Matt experiences as the result of having a service dog. In 2014 Matt started Freedom Fidos. An IRS approved 501(c)(3) whose mission was to rescue dogs from shelters, train them to be service dogs, and provide them at no cost to disabled veterans. Freedom Fidos spent two years in Myrtle Beach ,SC. After moving to Columbus, GA, Matt dissolved Freedom Fido’s, and started Fidos4Heroes, which received its IRS 501 (C)(3) status in September 2016. Matt’s organization has placed 36 dogs since its inception and has a waiting list of over 200 individuals. Fidoes4Heroes(DBA Freedom Fidos) is excited about their purchase of a four acre plot of land, in November 2016, in Columbus GA, which will the facility. Fundraising campaigns will begin soon which will enable us to complete the metal outbuilding which will not only be state of the art, but also, house eight dogs enabling us to start reducing our waiting list and enriching the lives of the veterans which need our services. Much Love from all of us at Freedom Fidos.
