Gabrielle Ford reacts to receiving her new coonhound companion to be named “ILO” — an acronym for “Izzy Lives On,” honoring her former dog Izzy that died in 2009.Courtesy photo

FENTON, MI – It all started with a girl named Gabrielle Ford and a coonhound dog named Izzy.

Ford, 32, and Izzy, began touring the country together more than 10 years ago. Traveling to schools across the nation, Ford would speak to students about her experiences in being bullied, and it wasn’t long until her message and influence had been recognized nationally, gaining attention from Animal Planet, the Today Show and USA Network.

But the journey reached a critical point when Izzy died in 2009.

“When it happened, you can never really prepare yourself,” Ford, a former Fenton resident, said. “It was good for her because she was no longer going to suffer.”

At first, Ford explained Izzy’s death to students who may have been hoping to see the dog at schools she visited. She remembers crying a few times during the explanation, but said it had gotten easier.

“When she wasn’t there, I kind of felt naked or like there was a void,” Ford said. “(Izzy) comforts me but I’m sure it also comforts students.”

Ford had been diagnosed with Friedreich’s ataxia, a rare genetic disease, when she was 12 years old. She began slurring her words and would eventually require a wheelchair as her muscles weakened. Her dog, Izzy, had suffered from muscular dystrophy – a disease similar to Ford’s.

On Friday, Feb. 15, for perhaps the first time in 21 years living with the debilitating disease, Ford seemed to have less of problem in slurring her words than actually finding the right ones to say as she met her new dog.

“I just don’t know what to say,” Ford said between long pauses and laughter. “We’re going to have to do some puppy training.”

ILO was flown in from Ohio on Friday, Feb. 15, as a surprise gift from her mother Rhonda Hillman and Bob Urban of Ohio, who was the owner of Izzy’s mother. Ford will continue her trek both nationwide and internationally with ILO, whose name is an acronym for “Izzy Lives On.”

“This girl has a gift to reach to these kids,” Hillman said. “She’s a very simple, grounded girl who understands what it’s like.”

Ford understands bullying all too well, having being a victim for five years. It started in eighth grade, when students would mock her slurred words, call her ugly, trip and even hit and bruise her.

It reached a breaking point at her high school graduation in Lake Fenton. She had fallen on the way to get her diploma and students began criticizing yet again. Ford locked herself in her home for years thereafter as a result.

“That devastated her,” Hillman said. “It hasn’t been easy on her, but she’s not one to feel sorry for herself.”

Hillman said Ford would always maintain independence during her time spent in isolation, crawling down to the basement in her home to do laundry and up and down stairs to her bedroom.

Ford speaks to students in Hershey, Penn., at Milton Hershey High School in September 2012.

Hillman said Ford has come a long way since those days, and now parasails and even bungee jumps.

“She lived a miserable life until she stopped caring about what other people thought,” Hillman said.”It’s been an incredible journey that we’ve been on.”

Gabe and ILO hope to return home to Michigan in March to visit Clarkston High School.

Ford’s book “Still Dancing” documents the journey with Izzy across the country, her rare disease and battles with depression and isolation. She will be releasing another book due out by Christmas 2013 titled “Gabe and Izzy: Amerca’s Voice for the Bullied,” to be published by Penguin Group, the second largest trade book publisher in the world.

To find out more about Gabe and Izzy, visit the website here.