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Mikayla Souza needs a Seizure Alert Dog!

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Mikayla is 10 years old and suffering with medically refractory mixed epilepsy, and has intractable drug resistance with her medications. This means that her medications don't help with keeping her seizures controlled. 

Mikayla had her first seizure at the age of 8 months and lasted over an hour. The past three years, the seizures have gotten progressively worse, even up to 9 in one night. Over the past year, she has had over 200 seizures and multiple hospital admissions. 

She loves dance and gymnastics and the seizures have prohibited her from fully participating in pursuing her passions. Mikayla can never be left alone, not even for a few minutes, because of the threat of seizure. She has been severely injured from falling multiple times during an episode. Black eyes, bruised and scraped knees, a head injury, a split lip, broken nose, seizure under water while swimming, etc. A service dog from Loyalty Service Dogs is highly trained to alert her of an oncoming seizure. It is also trained seek help during a seizure and will "go tell" during a seizure. This would provide peace of mind and an added layer of security for Mikayla and her family. As she grows older, the service dog will be able to provide Mikayla a bit more independence while still alerting others in the case of seizure. This will allow Mikayla to attend school, and pursue her passions of gymnastics and dance, and just be a kid.  For example, when Mikayla is on the high beam, the dog will be able to alert her of an oncoming seizure which will allow her to get into a safe position. 

Loyalty Service Dogs requires an up-front payment of $25,000. Mikayla's dog will be selected specifically for her, will be trained on her specific scent taken from a sample obtained during a seizure. Training takes between 9 and 13 months. Mikayla's dog will alert her that a seizure is coming so she can find a safe place to sit or lie down. If no one is around, the service dog will find someone to help in any situation.

Please help us raise money for this deserving family!


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    Co-organizers (3)

    Bernadette Filippone
    Organizer
    Moraga, CA
    Richard Souza
    Beneficiary
    Danna Cannavino
    Co-organizer
    Suzie Souza
    Co-organizer

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