There’s nothing sweeter than a boy and his dog. But what do you get when you have a little boy prone to severe seizures and a dog specially trained to assist him? Well, it pretty much doesn’t get more special than that.
That’s exactly the relationship 4-year-old Tristan Peterson of Connecticut has with his amazing pooch, Alfie. According to WTNH the adorable Tristan suffers from a rare form of epilepsy that causes severe, potentially dangerous seizures — seizures that can be predicted with Alfie’s help.
“Anywhere from ten minutes to thirty minutes before the seizure, Alfie will go up and will sniff Tristan, a very aggressive sniff,” Tristan’s mom, Lisa Defaranos-Peterson, told the TV station.
Alfie has been trained to sniff out the scent of chemicals Tristan releases before a seizure. He alerts Tristan’s family with his special sniff, and will get close to Tristan during a seizure, so the boy can lean on him for support.
“We’re his doctors and nurses 24/7, so it’s nice to have Alfie’s assistance with that,” Tristan’s mom said.
Tristan and his family are also eternally grateful to their community for helping them raise the money they needed for Alfie — because a pooch that specially trained doesn’t come cheap. They needed about $11,000 to buy and train Alfie, and raising the money was easier than they thought thanks to generous locals.
Tristan’s mom teaches at the local gym, Branford’s In-Shape Fitness Center, and hosted a spin-a-thon that raised a whopping $34,000. The extra money went to other families in need of service dogs.
“It was really, really intense and to be honest with you, I wanted to give up, i really did,” said Defaranos-Peterson. “But because of what everybody did to get us there and to get Tristan this dog, it was really what got me through.”
Thanks to his tight-knit community, Tristan now has a best friend, who just happens to be a lifesaver, too.
Photo by btwist via stock.xchang.
