DEARBORN, Mich. – Henry the dog is more than man's best friend. He can be a lifeline for the 3 million Americans living with type 1 diabetes.
Kathy Scott was diagnosed with the disease in 1970. She spent three days in a coma when she was a teenager.
"The first four years I was literally in the hospital two weeks out of every month," she said.
Just this past year she experienced something no family member wants to think of.
"My sister-in -law who was also type 1 went to bed and she didn't wake up," Scott said.
That was the final straw. She knew she needed something more than a glucose monitor to control her diabetes. Enter Henry. To Scott, Henry is more like a guardian angel.
"My mom died last year on Sept. 17, and my mom was an avid animal lover," she said.
She continues to train him. She swabs her skin when her blood sugar is low, freezes the swabs and uses them later as training tools.
Henry can sniff the chemical change when she places the swabs on her and he jumps to alert her.
Low blood sugar is something Scott always battles.
"My sugar kept going down and that's when that deep panic was setting in. I didn't have much of any control," she said.
That's where Henry comes into play. A button will dial emergency contacts that can save Scott's life.
"Henry is just another safety net in all of us, but he is so much more," she said.
If you are interested in a diabetic alert dog like Henry, visit www.Paradise-DogTraining.com.