Meet 23-year-old Samantha Knouse, of Attica, known as Sammy by her friends and family.
“She suffers from daily seizures just about,” says Home Healthcare Aide, Sadea Anderson.
“Her family is on the older end and have a lot of their own medical issues so it’s very hard for them to jump up and assist her. Having an alert dog could give them time to prepare for oncoming seizures.”
Anderson says they can’t take Sammy out much because they do not know when/if a seizure is going to happen. Her parents, Michael and Kim, who have their own health issues, cannot afford the option of a seizure response dog and insurance does not cover according to Anderson.
“Its hard on them to be able to jump right up when a seizure comes on.”
Sammy with one of her Home Health Aides, Sadea Anderson (submitted photo)
“We found out Sammy had seizures when she was about 2 years old, she has a lot of gray matter on her right side of her brain. She has Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), and she takes up to about 4 to 5 types of medication to stabilize her with the disease. The medication doesn’t stop the seizures it only suppresses them,” says her dad, Michael.
Lennox-Gastaut syndrome is a rare form of epilepsy that usually begins in childhood and is associated with multiple kinds of seizures.
“The service dog that we are interested in, is trained in sensing when seizure is going to happens. It warns people that one is going happen and protects the person having the seizure from falls. There are so many things I can list about this type of animal, before a seizure, during seizure after, a seizure. This type of dog not just dog.”
Anderson is looking to help the Knouse family raise money for a seizure alert dog. The cost of a seizure alert dog is in the range of $20,000-$60,000 depending on the training needed says Anderson.
Link to their GoFundMe:*Help Sammy Get A Lifesaving Seizure Dog – Fundraiser by Sadea Anderson on *spotfund
Sammy with her other Home Health Aide, Brianna Ramos. (Submitted photo)