Shirley not! Dog trained to prevent Northampton girl from falling into diabetic coma
A six-year-old girl is one of the first people in the country to have a life-saving dog, specially trained to sense changes in her diabetes.
Rebecca Farrar, a pupil at Harpole Primary School, used to collapse three of four times a week before becoming one of only eight people in England to have a hypo-alert dog.
The keen swimmer was diagnosed with type one diabetes two years ago and is unable to feel any change in her sugar levels.
Each day she must inject herself four times with insulin and carry out up to seven sugar-level tests to avoid falling into a coma.
But since the arrival of three year-old Shirley, a yellow Labrador-golden retriever cross, Rebecca has been spared the fear of collapsing.
Shirley is a hypo-alert dog trained to sense the change in odour when Rebecca's sugar levels drop or increase, warning the little girl by licking her hands, sitting on her lap and even dragging a sugar-level testing kit to her side.
Rebecca's mother, Claire, aged 39, from Harpole, said: "Diabetes took over Rebecca's life. She has to constantly check her levels and have four injections a day.
"She would regularly collapse and be taken to hospital, sometimes four times a week.
"But since Shirley arrived she has had her confidence back and it has been a massive relief to us.
"Apart from school, when Shirley has a rest, she goes everywhere with Rebecca.
"They are soul-mates, they get on so well."
Shirley has already potentially saved the life of Rebecca, who has a twin brother Joseph, prompting her three or four times a day to check her blood-sugar levels.
Claire gave up her job after Rebecca's diagnosis, making sure she was only seconds away if Rebecca collapsed at school and was taken to hospital.
She applied to Cancer and Bio Detection Dogs after seeing an advertisement in a newspaper and Rebecca was put on a waiting list for 12 months before Shirley arrived eight-weeks ago.
She added: "It's incredible how Shirley is trained to do this.
"We're all so grateful to have her."
For more information visit www.hypoalertdogs.co.uk
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