Special dog helps epilepsy woman

Hannah can now do normal activities thanks to Milo

A specially-trained dog is helping to transform the life of a young woman who has epilepsy.

Hannah Baker, 20, from Dedham in Essex, has severe epilepsy, brought on by a non-malignant tumour diagnosed when she was six years old.

Poodle Milo has been trained by the charity, Support Dogs, to spot changes to her pupils or skin tone before she has a seizure.

He then stares at her until she knows something is wrong.

Before she had Milo, Hannah used to have up to 80 seizures a day - now she has about 10 seizures each day, and most of those are small.

"Milo is like a security blanket for me," said Hannah.

Facts about epilepsy Epilepsy is the tendency to have recurrent seizures 456,000 or one in every 131 people in the UK has epilepsy There are around 40 different types of seizure and a person may have more than one type Many people who develop epilepsy below the age of 20 will 'grow out of it' in adult life

"He's made a huge difference to my life and to my family's life."

Milo alerts Hannah about eight to 10 minutes before she has a seizure and she then sits down on the floor or with her back against the wall to make sure she is out of any danger.

Milo stays with her until she regains consciousness.

Hannah's mother Nicola Baker said: "I've gone from worrying about her every minute of the day to worrying about her half a dozen times a day, which is a significant difference."

Hannah says she is now more confident in doing ordinary activities such as going for a walk or making a trip to the cinema because of Milo.

"The thing inside me has met its match," she said.