This is the incredible moment a trained diabetes support dog saved a young girl's life by detecting a dangerously high blood sugar spike while she slept.
The family pet Virginia was hailed as a hero for bringing attention to the medical emergency.
Mother-of-three Shannon Boggs and her husband were at home watching television in November when their dog Spy alerted them.
The pet led her to a bedroom where her 9-year-old daughter Raelynn, who has Type 1 diabetes, was sleeping, according to a video Boggs shared on Instagram.
During a blood sugar consultation, they were told that their level was dangerously high at 338 mg/dl.
Mother-of-three Shannon Boggs and her husband were at home watching television in November when their dog Spy alerted them. The pet led her to a bedroom where her 9-year-old daughter Raelynn, who has Type 1 diabetes, was sleeping, according to a video Boggs shared on Instagram
According to the Joslin Diabetes Center at Beth Israel Lahey Health in Boston, the target bedtime glucose range for a person with diabetes is between 90 and 150 mg/dL.
“The nose ALWAYS knows!” Even when it’s sleeping,” Boggs wrote under the video shared on Instagram. “This dog is a true blessing to our family!” We truly cannot be more grateful.”
Boggs wrote on Instagram that Raelynn was wearing a continuous glucose monitor, but this time the new monitor she had put on was still calibrating, so her blood sugar levels were not being checked.
Boggs also said her daughter, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes last year, had the flu at the time.
According to the Joslin Diabetes Center, an illness like the flu is a factor that can cause high blood sugar levels.
During a blood sugar consultation, they were told that their level was dangerously high at 338 mg/dl
High blood sugar, or hyperglycemia, occurs when levels reach 160 mg/dL or more, according to the center.
Diabetic alert dogs are trained to detect the smell that hypoglycemia produces in a person due to chemical changes in their body.
According to CanDoCanines.org, an organization that provides specially trained dogs, they are also trained to alert the person with diabetes, and some can even carry juice or glucose tablets, call an emergency number, or receive help from other residents on a property with people with disabilities.