The Chelsea Hutchison Foundation is currently fundraising to be able to provide a grant to Daniel and Cassy, a seizure-response service dog in training for him. Seizure response dogs are a special type of service dog, specifically trained to help someone who has epilepsy or a seizure disorder. Due to the differing needs between each case, every potential seizure dog receives specialized training.
Daniel is a very sweet non-verbal boy. The fact that he is plagued with seizures, in addition to his autism just seems so unjust. Cassy, a St. Bernard seizure-dog-in-training, has been living with the family for a few months so the two can bond. Daniel has suffered many injuries from hard falls during seizures. During his seizures, many times his breathing is compromised and his parents are put in a situation of having to perform CPR until the medics arrive.
It will dramatically reduce the stress on this young man's family as they deal with the issues of not only epilepsy, but autism as well. Cassy already alerts to seizures and will learn to recognize when a seizure is occurring and respond by bracing a fall or retrieving emergency medications to his parent attending to Daniel during a seizure. Many times, the comfort of a service animal with a child will Autism reduces stress levels, thus reducing the number of seizures.
Our goal is to get life-saving measures in line for all who could benefit from them. By raising SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy) awareness, our hope is to get epilepsy research on the radar. Most believe that if you have seizures you can take a pill and be cured. Truth is that only 1/3 of those with seizures are controlled by medication. For many, multiple seizures are an every-day part of their life. 1 in 26 will be diagnosed with epilepsy in their lifetime.
This project has provided additional documentation in a PDF file (projdoc.pdf).
