On a seemingly ordinary Saturday morning, around 5 a.m., Amanda Tanner and her husband experienced an unexpected wake-up call.
Their dog, Axel, a spirited 1-year-old border collie they had lovingly rescued, was unusually persistent.
He energetically jumped onto their bed, nudging and pawing at them, signaling that something was amiss.
Amanda, a 44-year-old resident of Spring, Texas, recounted the unusual behavior, saying, “He was pawing me more than normal to get me to move.”
Axel’s backstory is one of resilience and hope.
He was part of a litter of nine puppies discovered by a dedicated rescue group in Houston.
Despite his endearing nature and playful antics, he was overlooked by potential adopters.
That’s when the Tanner family, with their big hearts, decided to give him a forever home.
Little did they know that this decision would lead to a life-altering moment.
Intrigued and slightly concerned by Axel’s behavior, Amanda’s husband decided to head downstairs, thinking Axel might want to go outside.
However, Axel had a different agenda.
He halted in front of the closed bedroom door of their 17-year-old son, Gabriel, and stood there unwavering.
Behind that door, a crisis was unfolding.
Gabriel, a vibrant high school senior known for his athleticism, was in the throes of a stroke.
The gravity of the situation became heartbreakingly clear when Gabriel’s father entered the room.
Gabriel’s words were slurred, and a numbness had taken over his right side.
The contrast was stark.
Just the previous evening, the family had been immersed in the joy of taking Gabriel’s senior pictures.
Now, they found themselves in a desperate dash to the emergency room, praying for a miracle.
Dr. Sabih Effendi, a renowned neurosurgeon who attended to Gabriel, was quick to highlight the pivotal role Axel played.
“It’s very amazing that their dog alerted and started this whole process,” he remarked with admiration.
He further elucidated the critical nature of timely intervention in stroke cases: “When somebody’s acutely having a stroke, the neurons are dying. … If he was not found and another three or four hours went by, the repercussions would have been devastating with extensive brain injury.”
While strokes are predominantly associated with older individuals, they can, albeit rarely, afflict the young.
Gabriel’s ordeal was unexpected.
He had felt perfectly fine the night before, with just a fleeting headache.
By morning, his world had shifted.
He grappled with lifting his right arm, and his vision became disorientingly distorted.
Medical investigations, including an angiogram, pinpointed the cause: a left-sided stroke, which resulted from a spontaneous arterial dissection, a leading cause of stroke in young adults.
Immediate and aggressive treatment was initiated.
Gabriel was administered blood thinners, crucial for restoring blood flow.
Additionally, intravenous fluids were provided to enhance blood volume, facilitating better blood flow to the brain.
The medical team was optimistic that with time, the arterial tear would undergo natural healing.
The pivotal role Axel played in this harrowing episode cannot be overstated.
Both Dr. Effendi and the Tanner family are unanimous in their belief that Axel’s timely alert made all the difference.
“The longer that went by without being on a blood thinner, the more severe the repercussions of his stroke would have been,” Dr. Effendi emphasized.
Today, Gabriel’s recovery journey is filled with hope.
He’s actively participating in home-based classes and is diligently undergoing physical, occupational, and speech therapies.
His aspiration?
To rejoin his schoolmates and reclaim his place on the soccer field.
And what about Axel, the unsung hero of this tale?
Amanda, with immense gratitude in her heart, plans to bestow upon him a special medal of honor for his collar.
She affectionately notes, “He’s now tasked with following Gabriel everywhere.”
She adds, “Axel has always had this innate sensitivity to the emotions and well-being of everyone in the home.”
Indeed, Axel’s actions that fateful morning stand as proof of the profound bond between humans and their pets.
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