ANDERSON TOWNSHIP, Ohio — The community is rallying around an Anderson Township 2-year-old with severe epilepsy.
Mason Miller's family believes a seizure alert service dog could change his life.
"When Mason was 4 months old, he was diagnosed with infantile spasms," said his mom, Maddie Eckert.
Infantile spasms are a rare, but serious type of epilepsy you only get as an infant. Because it can be life-threatening, Mason was immediately started on a treatment plan.
"It sucks seeing your kid sick, and not being able to help them," Eckert said.
His mom said at one point, Mason was having between 400-500 seizures a day.
"And hearing him being in pain afterward, and there's nothing really you can do ... that was the hardest part, I think," his mother said.
In December, Mason had surgery on the part of his brain that doctors believed was triggering the seizures. Doctors said after the surgery, he would need to learn how to walk again.
"By the grace of God, I don't know how, but he woke up from surgery, and not two hours later was walking down the hallway, no issues at all," she said.
Mason is making huge strides, Eckert said. He hasn’t had a seizure in almost a month.
"He’s been progressing amazingly," she said.
Eckert believes Mason will be able to make even more strides forward, with the addition of a seizure alert service dog. The dog would be trained to help if Mason were to ever have a seizure again in the future.
"They can smell if a seizure’s oncoming and they can alert an adult or parent," Eckert said.
Seizure alert service dogs can be life-changing, but they aren’t cheap. Eckert said they typically cost anywhere from $45-65,000.
Mason was awarded a $5,000 grant to go towards funding a service dog. To start the training, they needed to raise $14,000.
Last week, the family started a GoFundMe page to help with some of the funds. Just three days after starting the fundraiser, they had already raised more than $13,500.
"I put my phone down and I pick it up after not even 24 hours, and there's $8,000 in his GoFundMe," Eckert said. "It just was so shocking."
She said has been blown away by the community response, speechless as she watches donations flood in.
"I’ve had people I don't even know donate to this, and I’ve had people I went to high school with that I didn't know very well, and their parents are donating," she said. "The community has really come together, and it's been really amazing."
Eckert said GoFundMe takes a portion out of each donation, so they are still short of their goal of $14,000.
If you’d like to donate, you can do so here. The proceeds will go directly toward Dulebohn Dog training.
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