By Jessica Anstice
An online fundraising page has been set up to help the Farano family purchase an assistance dog.
For seven-year-old Elijah, having a dog would mean so much more to him than simply having a pet – it will mean that he can interact at home, with his family, at school and in the wider community on a much more normal level.
The Pakenham boy was diagnosed with a rare genetic condition, called 1p36 deletion syndrome, at just six-weeks-old.
As a result, he also has Autism, left hemi cerebral palsy, polymicrogyria, epilepsy and a dilated aorta – meaning life can be overwhelming, often struggling with tasks most people find simple – like a trip to the local shopping centre.
Experiencing seizures up to three hours long, at one point Elijah was required to wear a helmet at times for his safety.
“His seizures can be very subtle and undetectable by monitoring systems so I continue to wake and check on him hourly through the night. This impacts the whole family,” Elijah’s mum Charlotte Farano said.
“He has no triggers for his seizures, so we have no warning when he is going to have one and all of his seizures require a trip to Monash Children’s Hospital for medical intervention and treatment.”
Late last month, instead of celebrating his seventh birthday with his friends at the new Deep Creek play area in Pakenham, Elijah was in an induced coma after an early morning seizure on the day of his planned party.
“He has a very busy life involving multiple specialist appointments and regular therapy sessions which can be hard on a young boy,” she said.
“A specially trained assistance dog would be able to accompany Elijah to all of his appointments and provide assistance in a multitude of ways.”
Elijah’s Smart Pup would also receive training to detect his seizures.
To date, Elijah’s Smart Pups fundraising page has raised close to $8000, with a goal of $20,000.
“We have been absolutely blown away with the community response so far and are extremely grateful for the amount of people that have either donated or shared his campaign page,” she said.
“It means so much to us that we have so many wonderful people in our community.”
Ms Farano said a dog would not only change Elijah’s life, but also the whole family’s.
Each Smart Pup is trained specifically for their child’s needs – in Elijah’s case, the dog will assist in tasks such as emotional regulation, tracking Elijah when he absconds, anchoring him so he can’t abscond, bracing to help him with getting to a standing position, assisting with mobility following a seizure, detecting when he is having a seizure and alerting.
“It’s hard to describe just how life changing this will be for our entire family – Elijah’s medical and behavioural struggles play heavily on our minds at all times,” she added.
“Elijah already adores dogs and is naturally excited about the idea of a Smart Pup, although he doesn’t fully understand the concept of what the pup will be able to do for him just yet.
“I think that when we get the dog he will start to appreciate how much this will help him
interact in our community in a positive way.”
If you would like to donate, visit: https://www.smartpups.org.au/campaigns/smart-pup-for-elijah-262213/?fbclid=IwAR3uPv1QH6RzLaSIakF3LIjRzKbj6S532V8NxZhxCEOcYamOD2a4YFzDziM
