ABOVE: Joey Ramp and her first service dog Theo in an organic chemistry lab at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. COURTESY OF JOEY RAMP
In 2006, Joey Ramp suffered 23 broken bones, an injury to her prefrontal cortex, and permanent nerve damage to the left side of her body after she and her horse took a fall. Ramp recalls falling head first, and then the horse, which she had been training to play polo, rolling on top of her. She fractured her eye socket, cheekbone, and two vertebrae, and broke her jaw and collar bone.
Two years and multiple surgeries later, Ramp’s body was restored to the extent that modern medicine would allow, but injuries meant she could no longer continue her career as a horse trainer. She also faced a bigger problem: severe and lasting damage to her mental health.
In combination with a history of childhood sexual ...
