Help Sarah Atlas with Medical Bills

Hello Racing Friends, Facebook Friends; all friends,

I am asking for help for a friend of mine that many of you also know: Sarah Atlas. Sarah, a longtime volunteer for FEMA and former EMT - recently underwent radiation treatment for a benign brain tumor. She is currently on indefinite leave from her job as a K9 explosives detection handler. She is not a police officer or member of the force. She is a civilian who certified under the TSA to work with her highly-trained, beloved dog to keep our airports safe. She receives no benefits from this job.

She needs helps with medical bills.

Sarah suffered a serious back injury while working with her dog to keep Newark and JFK Airports safe. As if that was not alarming enough, the doctors told Sarah that her spine is compromised with back injuries incurred not just by working with horses, but during many years as an EMT and with FEMA. She is relying on Social Security, Medicare and her dwindling savings. She is fighting the good fight, but she is frightened.

A Native New Yorker, Sarah grew up loving horses. Her parents indulged this passion with riding lessons, but Sarah also had a strong desire to help and be of service to others, which resulted in her becoming a licensed nurse.

Then a chance visit to Monticello Raceway led to happy years as a caretaker and trainer where Sarah worked for, and with, Hall of Fame trainers and drivers. At Garden State Park she created and implemented the one-of-a- kind Learn To Drive A Racehorse Program, giving many fans the chance to actually go behind the scenes and experience first-hand the joys of racing horses.

But, her desire to be of service to others would not be denied. She became a Paramedic and a trainer and breeder of high-drive search and rescue Belgian Malinois and German Shepherds. She also became a 17-year volunteer member of FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency) and was deployed to the World Trade Center during 9-11, and later Hurricane Sandy. Until her injury she and her dog were at Newark and Kennedy Airports, keeping them - and us - safe.

All that may be over now.

Sarah is a strong, self-reliant woman but she is struggling:

"I need to share! I’m dealing with a benign brain tumor. I’m blessed it is not cancer but

I'm so scared of what CAN happen. Please keep the prayers coming."

Sarah receives no pension from her years working with horses. Her critical, life-saving deployments with FEMA were largely volunteer. Many who work dogs at the airport are civilians who certify under the TSA, and receive no benefits. Sarah is 69. She receives Medicare and Social Security. Still, she was fully-employed until her brain tumors were discovered. Her savings are dwindling; her greatest fear is that she will lose her home. Her goal is to overcome these serious setbacks and get back to what she loves: her dogs and protecting us.

Please help if you can.

Thank you.