Service dogs can provide life-saving assistance to many individuals with medical conditions. These faithful companions are specially trained to recognize and respond to their owner’s needs, whether it be retrieving medication or calling for help.
A recent video demonstrates the remarkable abilities of these service animals, capturing the moment when a dog responds after its owner experiences a seizure in a grocery store. Amber Laudicina of North Carolina suffers from unexpected seizures as a result of chemotherapy-related brain damage from a brain tumor she battled in 2010. Fortunately, her 11-month-old service dog, Koda, is trained to respond to her seizures.
Amber was at her local Harris Teeter supermarket, training her dog in one of the aisles when she began to display signs of a seizure, such as delayed body language and unsteady movements. Koda, her service dog, sensed that something was wrong before Amber even realized it and barked to alert her. As Amber collapsed to the ground, Koda stayed close to her, ensuring she didn’t get hurt.
Despite being in a confused state, Koda was aware that something was amiss and barked to get help. Fortunately, an employee who knew them saw Koda’s actions and quickly took charge, calling for emergency assistance. Meanwhile, Koda stood by Amber’s side, patiently keeping watch. Although Koda is still in training and his leash may have impeded some of his tasks, Amber noted that he performed admirably.
“He undoubtedly saved my life,” the woman said. “He prevented me from actually getting hurt and ending up in a hospital with a concussion or something worse…You can train and train for this but you don’t know how far you’ve come until it actually happens.”
In addition, Amber expressed gratitude for the extraordinary efforts of the supermarket staff, noting that they went beyond their usual duties to provide assistance.
“Normally, employees don’t stay with me or offer much support. They usually just wait for the EMTs to arrive,” Amber explained. “[The staff] pulled out all the stops. 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 [the store’s assistant manager] did.”
Amber has set up a GoFundMe page to raise some money to thank the store’s employee for saving her life!
Watch the video here:
@koda_sd_in_training TW: Real Time True Seizure Occurs – this shows the amazing staff at my local Harris and Teeter handling this situation amazingly from beginning to end when medics arrived. Koda is still learning and did very well. The leash unfortunately contributed to a lot of his tasking issues and now tells me he needs to b on a traffic lead. You can train and train for this but you dont know how far youve come until it actually happens. I cant predict my episodes so its truly rare for me to catch it on film. Not that I like showing me in this state, I felt it’s important to show why you shouldnt mess w service dogs. He knew something was up and I should have known better to not be out the way ive been feeling. The first time her barked i wasnt 100% he was truly alerting but after, it was clear and I listened. Now I can know to trust his alerts more and more 🙂 home and resting now. #canecorso #canecorsoitaliano #servicedog #servicedogintraining #servicedogsoftikok #canecorsoservicedogintraining #servicesogprospect #servicedogteam #mastiffsoftiktok #dogtraining #puppytraining101 #puppytraining ♬ 10 minutes BGM for light training such as yoga(845880) – kakumaru