Laela Waddell, a 16-year-old Mid-Prairie High School junior from Wellman, was born with three major congenital issues, with the biggest challenge being bilateral microtia.

Bilateral microtia is a congenital deformity with closure, or absence of the external ear canal, which causes severe hearing problems.

Waddell has Baha implants, which help her with her hearing loss.

However, whenever she sleeps or bathes, she has to remove the devices, leaving her unable to hear.

As a result, she is unable to hear an alarm clock to wake her up in the morning or a smoke detector going off in an emergency.

With plans to head to college after graduation next year, Waddell and her family began to seek options to help her gain more independence.

The solution was a hearing service dog.

A hearing service dog would help with things Waddell currently relies on her mother to do, like waking her in the morning, alerting her to dangers and emergencies and notifying her if someone rings the doorbell.

The problem the family faces, though, is the cost.

Typically, it costs $18,000-$20,000 to train a hearing service dog, and it takes approximately 18 months to train a hearing service dog.

A Labrador retriever puppy was purchased on Feb. 4 from Iron Hill Retrievers in Delmar.

The family was able to connect with Clicks for Canines Positive Training in Montezuma, and they have offered to provide and train a dog for Waddell for a discounted price of $12,000.

To help the family come up with the training funds, a family friend set up a GoFundMe page named “Service Dog for Laela.”

They are seeking donations from members of the community able to help.

As of Tuesday morning, $1,855 had been raised.