Seizure-detecting dog removed from boy's side

A dog that can detect a boy's epileptic seizures was torn away from the boy's side for several hours after what the parents call an emotional experience at Kosair Children's Hospital. When Trey Taylor, 13, had brain surgery for his seizures last week, his service dog was by his side until a hospital employee shocked the parents with a request that brought them to tears and forced the hospital to take a second look at their service dog policy.

Trey started suffering with seizures when he was 2 years old. When his condition started to get worse, research led his parents to find out about dogs that can help detect seizures. Promise the dog came to Trey's rescue. "The scent to him is so strong that he'll just bark and we'll hear it and know eventually Trey is going to have a seizure," said his mother, Tammy Taylor.

As a last resort to help stop the seizures, Trey's parents opted for him to have brain surgery at Kosair. Just hours after the surgery, with Trey in ICU and Promise by his side, a hospital employee gave the family a surprise request.



"I was asleep next to Trey's bed and the dog was in between us and I was woken up by a lady pretty much in my face saying, 'You need to get the dog out of here," said Dell Taylor, Trey's father. For the next several hours, Trey's mother sat in a waiting room with Promise, fighting to get the dog back in.

"There's my son laying in ICU and my wife can't come in because they won't allow the dog in," said Dell. "We're a family that stays with Trey 100 percent and we're there for him, but Promise is a part of Trey," said Tammy.

"With service animals, we have certain sensitive areas that even service animals are not allowed to venture," said Kim Scott, the director for risk management at Kosair. She said while the employee was following procedure, when she found out about Promise's unique abilities to detect seizures, Scott took a second look at the policy and decided, in this case, to make a change after consulting an infectious control doctor who made sure the other patients on the ICU floor would not be harmed by a dog's presence. "I think it was a learning experience and I think it was a happy ending because the needs of Trey for his animal was honoured," Scott said.

With news video.