4:45 Saturday morning,a one-year-old border collie named Axel, that had been rescued from a shelter a few months earlier, woke up the Ken & Amanda Taylor by pounding them with his paws and barking. At first they were annoyed and blamed it on the puppy having too much energy and told him to go away. Axel has been very good at learning commands and usually follows them, but this morning he wouldn't leave. Ken got up to take Axel away but he immediately ran into their 17-year-old son, Gabriel's room. Ken was shocked to find Gabriel slurring his speech and paralyzed on his right side.
The family quickly rushed him to the hospital where doctors diagnosed him as having a left-sided stroke due to a spontaneous tear in an artery that supplies blood to the brain. Doctors said getting medical help within an hour of the tear made a "massive" difference in the outcome. A little while longer and Gabriel would have had permanent brain damage and if they hadn't checked on him till they expected to get out of bed on a Saturday morning he probably would have been dead.
Thanks to Axel's alertness, Gabriel received prompt treatment and now, less than two months after the stroke, he’s making "amazing" progress. The family believes Gabriel will be able to return to his high school soccer team this year. Axel, the hero dog, is being recognized with a medal of honor for his life-saving actions and is now following Gabriel everywhere, keeping a close eye on the teen.