Welcome to our GoFundMe fundraiser for Ezekiel's service dog!

Ezekiel is diagnosed with Dravet Syndrome, a severe genetic epilepsy that causes seizures and developmental delay. His seizures are resistant to daily seizure medication and his seizures require emergency rescue medication (i.e., midazolam, diazepam, or both) at this time. His longest seizure to date has been 1 hour and has not required intubation.

Dravet Syndrome also carries a significantly high risk of SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy) with a 15-20% chance of premature death and at least half of those individuals passing from SUDEP. SUDEP is a broad category, like SIDS, where the cause is unknown. More information can be found through the Dravet Syndrome Foundation here.

Ezekiel's epilepsy began with unprovoked seizures starting at just under 2 months of age. He is now almost a year old and on four daily seizure medications (totaling 9 doses per day) and the medical ketogenic diet (2.75:1 fat to carb/protein ratio). He has two neurologists (local at Prisma, and consulting neurologist at Duke) and has now started early intervention services for developmental support.

For more information about Dravet Syndrome, visit the Dravet SyndromeFoundation website at https://dravetfoundation.org/what-is-dravet-syndrome/. They have lots of resources!

A service dog that is trained for seizure alert would be able to detect the scent/cortisol level during a seizure event and bark to alert. This would be an added layer of protection for Ezekiel and especially helpful as he ages. Service dogs can also help with stability and falls as Ezekiel learns to walk.

The cost of a service dog for Seizure alert is 25k. We are asking for support with half of the cost and our goal is to be on contract in one year. For more information about the trainer that we would like to work with you can visit his website at https://mikeburkel.com/.

We will be updating Ezekiel's GoFundMe fundraiser amount as we receive donations outside of the GoFundMe platform.

The original 12.5K updated for the following donations given directly to us:

All donations (direct donations and GoFundMe as of 2/9/26) currently total = $6865

Please consider donating if you are able. Thank you for your support!