Teen stroke survivor thanks family dog for alerting parents in the middle of the night

A border collie saved the life of his teenage owner and became a stroke survivor by alerting his parents. The teenager was immediately brought to the hospital and survived a serious health condition; all thanks to their clever family dog.

Around 5 a.m. on August 26, 1-year-old dog Axel tried to wake up Amanda and Daines Tanner. They assumed that he only wanted to go out so they ignored him. However, the dog was persistent and did not give up until the couple got out of bed.

The dog led them to the bedroom of their son Gabriel Silva where they found him unable to move. He also couldn’t speak properly and was slurring his words.

The couple rushed him to the emergency room and he was later transferred for special care to Memoriam Hermann Hospital in Texas.

Neurosurgeon Dr. Sabih Effendi said Gabriel suffered from an ischemic stroke. “There was a blood vessel in his brain that had closed off partially,” the doctor said.

“It was a dissection of the artery that was causing a narrowing of it to not get blood to the brain.” The doctors gave Gabriel blood thinners to restore blood flow to his brain.

 “Millions of neurons are lost each minute that passes during an ischemic stroke, ultimately impacting speech and movement and could even result in death,” Dr. Effendi shared.

“Had the family dog not alerted Gabriel’s parents, and had Gabriel’s parents not identified his symptoms as stroke symptoms, the time to treatment could have been severely delayed resulting in a much different outcome for Gabriel.”

After a week in the hospital, Gabriel was transferred to TIRR Memorial Hermann to receive outpatient care. He’s a brave stroke survivor, but he lost some bodily functions due to the stroke, so he had to undergo intense physical, speech, and occupational therapy.

Gabriel is now getting better and is looking forward to going back to his normal life, especially playing soccer. “I feel like I was before,” Gabriel said.

The teen, a stroke survivor, could not thank his border collie enough for alerting his parents and saving him. The doctors said that he would have been “unable” to function in life if he was not given the necessary medical attention at the right time.

“Axel has always been very intuitive,” Gabriel said. “He can tell when something is wrong – like if we are feeling down or stressed – and he does his best to fix the problem.” 

Because of Axel’s cleverness and incisiveness, Gabriel is not only talking and walking again but is also close to healing completely.

He and his family are very thankful for having such a smart, loyal, and protective border collie. In fact, Gabriel’s mom Amanda is planning to get a medal or honor for Axel’s collar.

According to her, the dog is now tasked with following Gabriel everywhere. “He’s now sleeping with Gabriel more and Gabriel’s doors are open so he can go in and out. He’s always been very sensitive to everything and everybody’s emotions at home,” Amanda said.

Gabriel and Axel’s story is not the first story of a dog’s heroic act. Many times, dogs have proved their loyalty to humans by saving their lives. One of these is the story of Shiloh Shepherd Tinsley, who led the police to an injured man in a vehicle crash.

The police were only called in about a loose canine but they were led to a situation that needed more urgent attention. Tinsley kept running to a damaged pickup, leading them to his seriously injured owner.

His owner Cam Laundry said Tinsley was his guardian angel. “It’s a miracle that she had that kind of intelligence to do what she did.”