Community members in Waco are showing up for a seven-year-old cancer survivor who for the second time, needs their help.
People are raising funds so Emma Beth Greenawalt’s beloved dog, Miracle, can receive special training to become her official seizure alert companion, KWTX reported Tuesday.
“It could save her life. Most definitely,” the little girl’s mother, Missie, told the outlet.
Doctors diagnosed her with an aggressive form of brain cancer when she was just two-years-old, and the German Shepherd was presented to Emma Beth by friends once she finished radiation treatment.
Although she was later deemed cancer free, due to surgery that created scar tissue, the little girl started experiencing absence seizures that cause lapses in her consciousness.
Testing revealed she endures over 300 of them in 48 hours.
In a social media post on January 16, Missie said Emma Beth had adjusted to her medication but was still having the episodes.
“Her neurologists recommended that we begin the process for a seizures alert dog,” she wrote:
Missie located a trainer in El Paso and Miracle appears to be ready for the heavy responsibility.
“The trainer said ‘I want her so bad,'” Missie explained, adding she has a wonderful temperament. “She’s just the sweetest most kindhearted dog so God knew what it he was doing when she was gifted to us for finishing radiation.”
The German Shepherd is considered one of the best breeds for seizure alert, according to Spruce Pets.
The training will cost about $20,000 for a three year period, but Miracle would learn to alert to a seizure in the moments beforehand.
A friend helped create a fundraiser on the website called GiveSendGo and as of Friday, the site had raised $7,100.
“We were here in 2016 with a 20 percent chance to live and our amazing community came together for us then and to see them gathering back again, there are no words to express our gratitude and love and how thankful we are to have such a community behind us,” Missie commented.