Support Dogs gives East Markham woman her life back with Labrador/Golden Retriever-cross

After having seizures up to 70 times a day, an East Markham woman has her life back after receiving four-legged support.

Sally Burton was diagnosed with epilepsy aged 10, and until she was 28 she was unable to go out unaccompanied, and had never made a cup of tea for fear of injuring herself during a seizure.

At its peak, she was enduring up to 70 seizures a day and had exhausted most avenues, including unsuccessful brain surgery.

She had Sally’s mum living with her and her husband Philip, as Sally, now 57, couldn’t be left alone, and her frustration brought on more seizures.

But she has been given her life back thanks to Support Dogs, as she has now been paired with new support dog Maisie, a Labrador/Golden Retriever-cross.

Maisie has been trained to give a 50 minute, 100% accurate advance warning of an epileptic seizure, meaning that Sally has plenty of time to get to safety ahead of an attack.

Initially, Sally said that she had been sceptical as to whether a dog could help, but she went along to a Support Dogs open day and she saw for herself the incredible power of a seizure alert dog.

Maisie is Sally’s third epilepsy seizure alert dog provided by the Yorkshire-based charity, which trains and provides assistance dogs for autistic children and adults with epilepsy or a physical disability, to help them to live safer, more independent lives.

She follows in the pawprints of Sally’s previous dogs, Star – who was trained by the charity’s now-chief executive, Rita Howson in 1995, and Robbie.

Sally found a new confidence and was able to go into town with just her seizure dog for company, or meet friends.

Sally said: “[Maisie] is brilliant – I’ve recently started having a few more seizures each day and she’s never missed one.

“If I’m cooking, she comes and nudges my hand. If I don’t realise she’s nudging me, she give me a little bark. I can then get to the couch to have my seizure without fear of injuring myself.”

She noticed differences in the ways each dog alerted her: “Star would give a high-pitched bark for 45 minutes, Robbie could be anywhere and then shoot out and sit in front of me and stare and wouldn’t let me touch him, while Maisie sits in front of me and nudges my hand.

“They’re all marvellous in different ways.”

Having a support dog had helped the frequency of Sally’s seizures dramatically drop from 70 to just two or three a day.

However, Sally said the recent stress of having hospital appointments for a hole in her heart and lymphoedema in her legs, meant she was now having six or seven a day.

“It gets to around 5pm and I’m usually alright until then,” said Sally, “Maisie lays near me to make sure I’m safe. Those 50 minutes give me a lot more freedom.”

To find out more about Support Dogs’ seizure alert programme, please visit www.supportdogs.org.uk/epilepsy