NZ Epilepsy Assist Dog Trust

Hi Everyone

I’m Steph (Greg's older sister), I live in Auckland, New Zealand, and this is Chester, my Epilepsy Assist Dog. This 17th March 2024, Greg will be running the Rome Marathon on behalf of the New Zealand Epilepsy Assist Dog Trust Charity, which looks after Chester and his mates.

Chester is 10 years old and came to help and live with me in 2015 from the New Zealand Epilepsy Assist Dog Trust and graduated as a fully trained Epilepsy Assist Dog in 2016 after he finished off his training. Since 2015 he has been working hard to support me living independently with my Epilepsy.

Chester and his other colleagues work 24/7 to give us all the independence, confidence, medical support, companionship that we need, and it also allows our families to do things without worrying about our safety as much as possible, as with Epilepsy Assist Dog, we have a full-time teammate.

Speaking from personal experience, Chester has allowed me to live independently, travel out of town on trains and buses to Hamilton and Whangarei to stay with family, he also has helped me gain more confidence in the job I have recently started and has even has his own fans at work. Chester made the finalist in the New Zealand Service Dog With A Job Awards in 2021.

Importantly, Chester has saved my life on many occasions which I and my family know tops it all. My younger brother Greg and I know that Chester and the other Epilepsy Assist Service Dogs deserve support in the hard work they do for us each day. Chester gets lots of pats cuddles and treats, of course, for his hard work. However on top of this money is needed to train and support the next generation of Epilepsy Assist Dogs as the dogs can only work for so long and being 10 years old my dear Chester is nearly hitting retirement.

Greg will be running the Rome Marathon on behalf of the New Zealand Epilepsy Assist Dog Trust Charity, which looks after Chester and his mates, this 17th March 2024. We have a goal of raising £1000 which is nothing compared to about the $30,000 NZD (£14,500) required to train a dog like Chester that takes about 2 ½ years.

All your support would be greatly appreciated.

For more info on the Charity and to hear other people’s stories see the NZ Epilepsy Assist Dog Trust

page below.

nzepilepsyassistdogs.org.nz

Looking forward to your support and thanks

Chester, Steph Thurlow and Greg Thurlow

On behalf of the NZ Epilepsy Assist Dog Trust