Service dogs can be lifesaving for many people with medical conditions. These loyal companions are specially trained to recognize when their owner is in trouble and respond, whether it is fetching medicine or calling for help. The moment one dog responds to a seizure in a grocery store after his owner has a seizure is now evidence of how amazing service animals can be.
As reported by WGHP, Amber Laudicina, from North Carolina, experienced unexpected seizures following chemo-induced brain damage in 2010.
Thankfully, her 11-month-old service dog Koda is by her side, which she has trained to react to seizures. This was captured on video while Amber was shopping at her local Harris and Teeter supermarket. Her body language starts to slow down and her movements begin to waver as she trains her dog in the aisle. Amber starts to exhibit signs of a seizure when she is training her dog in the aisle.
Despite Amber slumping to the ground and Koda barking in alert, the dog remains by her side to make sure she is not injured.
The employee familiar with Amber’s condition knew Koda barking meant something was wrong, so he called the manager for assistance.
As Koda stands guard, the employee calls for emergency assistance. Despite being in training and his leash interfering with some of his tasks, Amber wrote, Koda still performed well. “He saved my life,” Amber said. As a result of his help, I did not end up seriously injured and in the hospital with a concussion or worse.
According to Amber, it was his first true emergency situation, and he “did amazing.” “You can train and train for this but you don’t know how far you’ve come until it actually happens,” she wrote.
The supermarket employees were also praised by Amber for their actions, saying they went above and beyond what was expected. “Employees typically don’t sit with me or anything like that. They tend to just stand around and wait for EMTs to arrive,” Amber said. “[The assistant manager] pulled out all the stops,” Amber told WXII. “For as long as I have had service dogs and as long as I have actually been sick, I have never experienced someone take on a situation like she did.”
Amber was checked by EMS, but was not taken to the hospital, the outlet reported.
The manager’s life-saving actions have also led Amber to set up a GoFundMe page in gratitude.
The fact that Koda was able to respond so quickly to his owner’s health crisis like this is amazing. It shows how valuable service dogs can be to people in need.
