Me And My Dog Amazing stories
Everyone considers that their dog is special, but Magic and Babs really do take the biscuit!
HE’S MAGIC!
Unlike most people with type 1 diabetes, Claire Pesterfield’s body does not display the early warning signs of a potential seizure or the onset of a coma, or allow her to act to make the symptoms less severe.
Blood glucose checks through the night used to leave her exhausted and fearing a fatal episode, as well as struggling to cope with work. Even the latest technology couldn’t help.
That all changed when Claire was introduced to Magic through the Medical Detection Dogs charity.
“Even things like a change in an activity or the weather can suddenly put things out of kilter and, left untreated, it is potentially life threatening. Using his superior sense of smell, Magic can alert me to it at a moment’s notice, giving me up to a 30-minute warning that I need to take action before it gets to the point of being dangerous.
“He alerts me pretty much daily, sometimes two or three times, either poking me with his paw or fetching my bag containing my testing kit. After testing my blood sugar I reward him with a dog biscuit. He has now potentially saved my life thousands of times.
“By avoiding the need for ambulances and hospital admissions, he is also saving the NHS thousands of pounds.
“I work at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge, leading the nursing team who help h care for nearly 300 children, young people p and families with diabetes. What is tr ruly amazing is that, although he is s urrounded by people with diabetes there, due to his excellent training by Medical Detection Dogs he still only alerts to me.
“Magic has given me my life back. He allows me to be me – he is part of me. Without him I couldn’t function as a normal human being. Without him, I wouldn’t be alive today.” WWW.MEDICALDETECTIONDOGS.ORG.UK 01296 655888