Service dogs are incredible helpers for people with medical issues. They are trained to notice problems with their owners and to act quickly. This training includes tasks like getting medicine or calling for help. A recent event recorded on video in a grocery store shows just how vital these service dogs can be.
Amber Laudicina from North Carolina relies on her service dog due to seizures caused by brain damage from past cancer treatment. Her dog, Koda, an 11-month-old still in training, is prepared to help during these medical emergencies.
Image Source Credit via Tiktok
The incident took place while Amber was at a Harris Teeter supermarket, working on training exercises with Koda. As she began to show early signs of a seizure, Koda detected something was wrong even before Amber fully realized her condition.
Caught on the store’s surveillance, Koda barked to alert those nearby as Amber lost her balance and collapsed. Staying close, Koda made sure Amber was safe as she became dazed. A store employee, familiar with their situation, recognized Koda’s bark as a sign of distress and quickly took action to call for emergency help, while Koda guarded Amber.
“He saved my life,” Amber stated to WGHP. “He prevented me from actually getting hurt and ending up truly in the hospital with a concussion or something worse.” This was Koda’s first real emergency response, and Amber noted, “You can train and train for this but you don’t know how far you’ve come until it actually happens.”
Image Source Credit via Tiktok
Amber also expressed gratitude for the supermarket employees’ response, which went beyond her past experiences. “Employees typically don’t sit with me or anything like that. They tend to just stand around and wait for EMTs to arrive,” she said. However, this time was different. “[The assistant manager] pulled out all the stops,” Amber told WXII, highlighting an exceptional level of support she hadn’t seen before.
Thankfully, when emergency medical services arrived, they found that Amber did not need to go to the hospital. In appreciation of the help she received, Amber has set up a GoFundMe page to thank the manager for her life-saving actions.
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