Emma was diagnosed with epilepsy at 14 in Cape Town, South Africa. By her mid-twenties, the seizures were coming without warning -- grand mal episodes that could strike while she was driving, cooking, or walking down stairs. She'd broken bones. She'd been hospitalised after hitting her head on a pavement. She was afraid to leave her flat.
A Dog Named Grace
In 2021, a friend connected Emma with an organisation that trains seizure alert dogs. She was matched with a border collie named Grace. Nobody could fully explain how the programme worked -- some dogs detect subtle changes in scent, skin temperature, or micro-behaviours that precede seizures by 15 to 45 minutes. Whatever the mechanism, Grace could do it.
The first time Grace alerted -- pawing at Emma's leg and whimpering insistently while they sat watching television -- Emma didn't understand. Twenty minutes later, she had a seizure. But because Grace had warned her, she was already on the floor, away from furniture, with her phone in reach.
Reclaiming a Life
Over the following year, Grace's alerts became the rhythm Emma built her safety around. She started leaving the flat. She went back to work. She drove again (with Grace in the passenger seat, always watching). She said: "This dog gave me back my life. I went from being a prisoner in my own home to being someone who could function. Grace detects what no medical device has been able to detect. She knows before I know."
Emma started attending church again -- something she'd stopped because the fear of seizing in public was paralysing. She took Grace with her. The congregation welcomed them both.
"I named her Grace before I understood the weight of that word," Emma said. "Now I get it. She is literally grace with four legs. Something I didn't earn, doing something I can't do for myself, showing up every single time."
What This Means for You
There are forms of protection and provision that medicine hasn't figured out yet. A dog's nose can detect what an EEG sometimes misses. If you're living in fear of something you can't predict or control, look for the Grace that might already be next to you -- the provision you didn't arrange, doing the thing you can't do alone.