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QUINCY, ILL. -- In the middle of the night when something goes wrong, it's nice to know you have someone there to help you make it through.

And sometimes that someone is somebody you'd least expect.

"It happened Monday night about 1:30 in the morning. I was sleeping and I went into what they call a grand mal seizure. I started convulsing," Stephanie Loring said.

Stephanie Loring is no stranger to seizures. She's had epilepsy since she was six-years-old. But she's been seizure free for about a year until this week when they started to come back. This particular seizure though was different.

"My face had gone down into my pillows. I started convulsing," Loring said.

But she was saved by a very important man in her life .. .Andrew who's only six ... and a toy poodle.

"He started rooting to get my face out of my pillows so I would not smother," Loring said.

The seizure only lasted about a minute, but that's actually about twice as long as Loring's seizures usually last.

"He literally saved my life, Chad. I could never tell him enough how much I love him and how grateful I am that God sent him to me. And he's been a real blessing to me," Loring said.

Loring got Andrew as a pup as a gift for Mother's Day. The two instantly had a connection, but Loring probably never dreamed what a blessing Andrew would be.

"There is a scent that people with epilepsy give off and that's how they know," Loring said.

This isn't the first time Andrew has helped Loring make it through a seizure, but it is the first time he's helped save her life. Loring says she usually gets a two to three minute heads up before a seizure hits.

"It's like a rubber band smacking me on the back of the neck," Loring said.

So she'll tell Andrew to stay by her side, and "he gets by me as close as he can get and he won't budge."

And Loring doesn't budge when it comes to her thoughts about animals.

"I wish people would realize one thing. When people say dogs are dumb and they don't know anything. Please stop and think twice. Dogs are not as dumb as they think they are. They know a whole lot more than what people give them credit for," Loring said.

Stephanie Loring says her doctors are sending her to Peoria soon so they can figure out why her seizures have recently come back.

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