WASHINGTON, Oct 26, (AP): A heroic family dog is receiving well-deserved praise for its life-saving actions in alerting parents to a medical emergency involving their teenager.

On Aug 26, Amanda and Daines Tanner were sound asleep when their 1-year-old border collie, Axel, emerged as an unexpected hero. Axel's persistent barking roused the couple from their slumber around 5 am. Initially, they assumed he needed to go outside and attempted to ignore his insistence. However, Axel's unwavering determination prompted Daines to investigate.

As Daines headed toward the door to let Axel out, the dog surprisingly led him in the opposite direction, sitting steadfastly in front of Amanda's 17-year-old son, Gabriel Silva's bedroom door. Axel refused to budge, signaling that something was amiss.

Due to Axel's persistence and unusual behavior, Daines entered Gabriel's room. Inside, he found his stepson struggling to speak coherently and unable to move the right side of his body. Gabriel was in the midst of a stroke.

Gabriel shared, "Axel has always been very intuitive. He can tell when something is wrong – like if we are feeling down or stressed – and he does his best to fix the problem. That morning he must have sensed I needed help, so he woke up someone who could help."

In a race against time, Amanda and Daines rushed Gabriel to the emergency room. There, he was transferred to Memorial Hermann The Woodlands Medical Center for specialized care under the expertise of Dr. Sabih Effendi, a neurosurgeon and the hospital's stroke medical director.

Upon initial examination, Gabriel had lost his ability to speak and experienced significant weakness on his right side. Dr. Effendi conducted a cerebral angiogram, revealing an artery dissection, a tear along the inner lining of an artery that had led to an ischemic stroke. To restore blood flow to Gabriel's brain quickly, doctors administered blood thinners. They emphasized that without prompt medical attention, Gabriel would have faced permanent symptoms and a life with severe functional limitations.

Dr. Effendi stressed the immense impact Axel had on Gabriel's outcome by alerting his parents to the emergency. He explained, "Millions of neurons are lost each minute that passes during an ischemic stroke, ultimately impacting speech and movement and could even result in death. 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."

Instead, Gabriel is on the path to recovery, walking, talking, and looking forward to completing his senior year of high school.

Meanwhile, Axel has remained a loyal companion by Gabriel's side since the health scare. Amanda expressed her desire to honor the heroic canine, considering a medal or special recognition for his collar. She shared, "He’s 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."