Maya is a smart, kind, sweet-and-sassy 10-year-old girl who lives with epilepsy.

Epilepsy is a neurological disorder that causes unpredictable, dangerous and often uncontrollable seizures. These seizures can happen at any time, creating serious safety risks. Despite facing challenges most children her age never have to think about, Maya meets every day with incredible courage and a smile that lights up the room.

Maya’s journey with epilepsy began when she was just 14 months old, after experiencing her first tonic-clonic seizure. In the weeks that followed, she had several more episodes, leading to medication and extensive testing. Unfortunately, the seizures continued, and additional medications were added, many of which ultimately failed to control them. At age four, Maya’s seizures began presenting in a new and more complex way. She was diagnosed with myoclonic absence seizures, which can be extremely difficult to recognize. These episodes often appear as subtle eye rolls or flutters, but when they occur in clusters, Maya may space out, slur her words, and become disoriented and confused. During these cluster states, we often have to administer emergency rescue medication to stop the seizures. Over the years, Maya has undergone multiple EEGs, MRIs, numerous medication changes, and genetic testing. She was found to have a RELN gene variant—something that is still not fully understood. While there is much we don’t yet know, we remain hopeful that continued research will bring answers and better treatment options in the future.

Recently, Maya has experienced an increase in tonic-clonic seizures. These have led to broken glasses, black eyes, and concussions from sudden falls. While she can sometimes sense the onset of smaller seizures, the larger tonic-clonic seizures often come without warning making everyday activities frightening and dangerous. This is why a seizure alert dog could be truly lifechanging for Maya.

A trained seizure alert dog would provide an extra set of eyes, ears, and instincts when we can’t be right beside her. These dogs can alert caregivers to an oncoming seizure, helping prevent injuries. They also provide comfort during and after episodes and can even retrieve medications when every second counts. Most importantly, a seizure alert dog would give Maya greater independence, safety, and peace of mind—allowing her to be a kid first, not a patient.

Any donation, big or small, brings us one step closer to giving Maya the support and protection she needs. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you for reading, sharing, and supporting Maya’s journey!

Training a service dog to meet our child’s requirements can be very costly. On average it costs between $40,000-60,000 to raise, train, and place a service dog at 4 Paws for Ability. While 4 Paws for Ability fundraises to help cover a significant portion of this cost, families are tasked with raising $20,000 of that amount or $23,000 if receiving a poodle, doodle or papillon. We hope that we can receive assistance from our beloved family and friends to help make our service dog dream a reality.