A Therapy Dog for Grace | Mums4Mums

8 year-old Grace George is a remarkable little girl. She is brave and happy and positive, despite what she goes through every day.

Grace was just 6, when out of the blue, she began to suffer seizures and was diagnosed with epilepsy.

There is no warning when a seizure is coming on and there is currently no medical regime that can stop them.

Grace is one of a few children in Australia who are on a ketogenic diet, to try and reduce her seizures. Every day without complaint and with the support of her family, Grace eats only fat and protein. No sugar nor carbohydrate. No fruit, no vegetables and never birthday cake, Easter eggs or candy canes.

Epilepsy has also meant Grace has missed a lot of school and spent a lot of time in hospital and visiting Doctors. So this illness has robbed her of some basic childhood freedoms and pleasures.

But there is a beautiful African Proverb that says ‘It takes a village to raise a child’.  And Grace and her family live in a community which is desperate to do something to help.

We want to raise the funds to get Grace a four-legged Super-hero called Chilli.
Chilli is what’s known as a therapy dog. He is a purpose bred Tamaruke Labradoodle, hand selected from his litter and is currently undergoing 7 months of specialty therapy dog training to be ready for Grace.

Grace’s family had to go through a rigorous screening process just to apply for a Tamaruke therapy dog, and Grace wrote a letter which explains so perfectly why she needs to have Chilli as her companion.
Chilli  will be able to accompany Grace in public and at school, to sleep with her at night (when she currently has most of her seizures) to give her comfort when she is feeling unwell, and in the future may possibly be able to alert others when Grace is having a seizure.  

This wonderful dog will be an extra set of eyes for Grace’s family and carers, allowing them to fulfill some basic daily tasks around the home – knowing that ‘someone’ is always with Grace incase she suffers a seizure.

The health benefits of pet ownership are well documented, but Chilli will be a constant companion for Grace, bringing her joy, comfort and most importantly, confidence.

Please help us give this gift of love to Grace.