Woman's life with seizures changes, thanks to service dog

A YOUNG woman who was suffering from up to 80 epileptic fits a day has had her life transformed by a four-legged friend. Hannah Baker was just six when she was diagnosed with a non malignant brain tumor and her seizures gradually grew worse. The epilepsy was so incapacitating she was virtually housebound and required a carer 24 hours a day. Simple tasks like showering meant constantly singing to reassure her family that she was alright and as a child she had to sleep in a double bed to avoid falling out and injuring herself.

Hannah walking her seizure-alert dog Milo But accidents, such as breaking her jaw, became common place and an operation to remove the tumor only made matters worse.By her teens, Hannah, from Dedham, became more depressed as her school friends moved away to enjoy student life. Feeling that she had a bleak future, she began self harming.But by chance, her mum, Nicola, heard a feature about a charity called Support Dogs on the radio and Hannah was matched with Milo, a white poodle.

After eight months of training, Milo graduated as a “seizure alert dog”.Amazingly Milo is able to signal when a seizure is imminent by staring at Hannah intently, refusing to be distracted, even by food. Hannah then knows to attempt to stroke him and if he pulls away, she knows she is about to have a seizure.The eight to 10-minute warning allows her to move away dangerous items such as hot drinks and sit down to prevent injury in the event of a larger seizure.

She has now achieved many of the simple aims she set herself before starting the training programme, such as visiting the library, and has even traveled independently as far as Liverpool to visit family and friends.The 20-year-old said Milo had made a massive difference to her life and had helped to reduce the number of seizures. “Milo means the world to me,” she said.Combined with her medical treatment, Milo has helped reduce the number of daily seizures Hannah has to as few as 10.