Diabetes-Sniffing Dog Saves Life of 7-Year-Old Boy

Dorrie Nuttall Luke Nuttall Jedi facebook

By Staff Reporter , Parent Herald Mar 10, 04:30 am

The parents of a 7-year-old boy with diabetes have their dog to thank for saving the life of their child. The black labrador alerted them late at night when their kid's blood sugar was shooting up.

In her Facebook page, mom Dorrie Nuttall recounted how their dog Jedi woke her up from her sleep to tell her that there was something wrong with son Luke. He first tried jumping up and down on the bed that the parents shared with their son. And when they did not respond, he jumped on top of Nuttall.

However, the mother claimed that when she checked her son's blood sugar level using a monitor, it showed normal levels. The dog did not stop bothering her.

"Then I knew he meant business," she said on Facebook. "The sleepy fog started to wear off and I began to think clearer. I suddenly was fully awake and I knew there was an issue."

This may just look like a dog, a sleeping boy and a number on a screen, but this, this moment right here is so much...

Posted by Saving Luke - Luke and Jedi - Fighting Type 1 Diabetes Together on Thursday, March 3, 2016

The Washington Post said that Nuttall decided to prick her son's finger and it was through this she got a higher blood sugar level. She got alarmed because she knew it was still on the rise.

The mom speedily gave her son a glucose medication and monitored his blood sugar level. "Luke was laying right next to me, just inches from me, and without Jedi I would have had no idea that he was dropping out of a safe range," she added on Facebook.

Nuttal explained that she wanted to share the experience on social media to open the eyes of parents of children with diabetes to the dangers of the illness. She noted that if not because of the powerful smelling of Jedi, which seemed more reliable than a technological apparatus, her son could be dead now.

"His alerts often beat the meters and he saves Luke from lots of the crummy feelings and health issues that go along with each," Nuttal said. "But Jedi's job goes beyond alerting, he also saves Luke from being alone, from being scared, he is his constant companion."

In a similar report, USA Today said Jedi is among the line of dogs trained to sniff if a diabetes patient has an increasing or decreasing blood sugar levels. It noted that their ability to detect the smell that people let out whenever they have low insulin levels.