Mair’s Seizure Alert Dog

Meet our daughter Mair! She is a lovely young women who just turned 16 and should be getting ready to get her drivers license, get a summer job, go the pool and do all the things that teenagers do, however,  in Mair's case she cannot.  Three years ago on Thanksgiving Day  Mair suffered a Grand Mal seizure, a month later she was diagnosed with Epilepsy.  It was an absolute blow to Mair.  As we sat with the Dr., they explained all the things Mair had to give up until she reached 6 months seizure free, once the mile marker was hit she could start to add things back.  Needless to say, Mair has never reached 6 months seizure free.  Mair was a very talented Equestrian.  She wanted to work and train horses but uncontrolled Epilepsy prevents that.  Mair was very independent but again uncontrolled Epilepsy prohibits alone time or independence.  Mair felt after one meeting and a diagnosis, she went from an independent 13 year old to a toddler.  Mair has tried to apply for summer jobs but no one will hire her do to her Epilepsy.  She worked every summer and holiday vacation at a horse barn but was let go as their insurance couldn't accept the risk of Epilepsy.  Mair had to start all over and she did. She threw herself into her art (she is quite the talented artist) and has decided that she would like to go into Art Therapy and work with Children with neurological issues and children who have terminal illness and spend most of their life at Children's Hospital.  When you spend a lot of time at a Children's Hospital you see the need for Art Therapy. 

This GoFundMe request comes on the heels of an accident Mair had two weeks ago.  It made our family realize that Mair needs more support with her Epilepsy so that she can go away to college, hang out with friends and simply be alone in the house.  Mair was out with friends on a Sunday afternoon ice skating and afterwards she and her friends decided to grab a coffee.  While walking across the street Mair had a seizure.  Her legs got wrapped around each other and she fell forward and hit her head on a fire hydrant causing a concussion.  Now, first thing, we were extremely relieved she didn't fall in the street while having the seizure where she could have been hit by a car.  She had made it across the street before it happened.  Afterwards, we realized and discussed that if Mair had a seizure alert dog, she would not have had that accident.  The dog would have alerted her to the oncoming seizure and signaled her to get to safety and sit down.  By having a SAD, she could start staying home by herself and could actually be on the stairs if no one is home.  She could safely go to college and have support from the SAD and become more and more independent in her living.  A SAD would also help Mair to not feel so alone in this invisible disease and Mair does feel very alone in her Epilepsy.  

We have chosen to work with the organization called Medical Mutts. They are a fantastic organization that provide assistance dogs for Epilepsy, Diabetes, PTSD and Anxiety disorders.  They work only with rescue dogs from shelters around the United States and have great results.  I'm including a link in case anyone would like to read about this organization before donating towards Mair's seizure alert dog. 

The amount were are asking will cover the dog, travel to Indianapolis for a week of training and hotel cost.

https://medicalmutts.org

These are really tough times for people financially and we understand that completely.  All we ask is that you consider donating and please know any amount helps!  Please feel free to forward this GoFundMe page to anyone that you feel would be interested in helping as well.  This is a really wonderful opportunity to help a young girl find her way back to a somewhat normal and independent life and really positive future! 

Thank you in advance for everyone's support!
Ali, Paddy & Mair O'Grady