MONROE - A Monroe woman who suffers from regular seizures uses a unique alarm system to alert people if she becomes incapacitated.
If Diana Sassman collapses and injures herself, her personal alarm system - one that has four legs, a tail and a fur coat - will bark as loudly as it can.
Sassman's Yorkshire terrier, Jack - who was named after "Jack Straw," a song by the Grateful Dead - is a service dog registered by the United Service Animal Registry to assist his owner with her seizures. Unusually, however, Jack learned to assist Sassman without any formal training.
"It started when I was living in El Paso," Sassman said.
Eight years ago, when Jack was only a puppy, Sassman was in an abusive relationship with a man who once left her unconscious. Sassman was awakened by Jack, who was standing over her and licking her face.
Sassman eventually left El Paso, traveled throughout the southwest and then moved to Monroe in December 2015. The ever-energetic Jack came with her.
"We take care of each other," Sassman said. "He can't go on without me, and I can't go on without him."
Sassman regularly experiences non-epileptic grand mal seizures that come over her with no warning. Although they do not cause convulsions, Sassman will collapse if they occur while she is standing, and she has injured herself in falls.
Doctors aren't sure what causes her seizures, Sassman said, but they have never lasted longer than 10 minutes.
Usually the seizures occur at night, Sassman said.
"I'll only know they've happened because my muscles will be so tense," Sassman said. "But then Jack will be there, licking my face, and I'll know it happened again."
If Sassman is injured during a seizure, or if she is outside of her home at the Churchill Woods Apartments, Jack will get others' attention by barking. Once people have responded, Jack enjoys a pat on the head for his role in the incident.
Sassman says her condition prevents her from performing certain activities. She is unable to drive, for example, and cooking at a hot stove can be a very risky proposition.
"Jack allows me to have a certain amount of things I don't need to give up," Sassman said. "He helped me be able to still have some dignity."
Sassman said she laughs when she sees other, more formally trained, seizure dogs. Those dogs are generally not encouraged to interact with anyone who isn't their owner, in case they are distracted.
"They're not having any fun," Sassman said.
In any case, Sassman said she hopes more people with conditions like hers put their trust in service animals.
"I would love to see people - if they don't feel comfortable going out into public - to find an animal like Jack who will let them go up and get out rather than staying in," Sassman said. "If I had to be cooped up all the time, I couldn't handle it."
If Diana Sassman collapses and injures herself, her personal alarm system - one that has four legs, a tail and a fur coat - will bark as loudly as it can.
Sassman's Yorkshire terrier, Jack - who was named after "Jack Straw," a song by the Grateful Dead - is a service dog registered by the United Service Animal Registry to assist his owner with her seizures. Unusually, however, Jack learned to assist Sassman without any formal training.
"It started when I was living in El Paso," Sassman said.
Eight years ago, when Jack was only a puppy, Sassman was in an abusive relationship with a man who once left her unconscious. Sassman was awakened by Jack, who was standing over her and licking her face.
Sassman eventually left El Paso, traveled throughout the southwest and then moved to Monroe in December 2015. The ever-energetic Jack came with her.
"We take care of each other," Sassman said. "He can't go on without me, and I can't go on without him."
Sassman regularly experiences non-epileptic grand mal seizures that come over her with no warning. Although they do not cause convulsions, Sassman will collapse if they occur while she is standing, and she has injured herself in falls.
Doctors aren't sure what causes her seizures, Sassman said, but they have never lasted longer than 10 minutes.
Usually the seizures occur at night, Sassman said.
"I'll only know they've happened because my muscles will be so tense," Sassman said. "But then Jack will be there, licking my face, and I'll know it happened again."
If Sassman is injured during a seizure, or if she is outside of her home at the Churchill Woods Apartments, Jack will get others' attention by barking. Once people have responded, Jack enjoys a pat on the head for his role in the incident.
Sassman says her condition prevents her from performing certain activities. She is unable to drive, for example, and cooking at a hot stove can be a very risky proposition.
"Jack allows me to have a certain amount of things I don't need to give up," Sassman said. "He helped me be able to still have some dignity."
Sassman said she laughs when she sees other, more formally trained, seizure dogs. Those dogs are generally not encouraged to interact with anyone who isn't their owner, in case they are distracted.
"They're not having any fun," Sassman said.
In any case, Sassman said she hopes more people with conditions like hers put their trust in service animals.
"I would love to see people - if they don't feel comfortable going out into public - to find an animal like Jack who will let them go up and get out rather than staying in," Sassman said. "If I had to be cooped up all the time, I couldn't handle it."