The story where a spaniel named Poppy was the first to sense something was wrong and saved the life of seven-year-old Thomas French took place in England. The boy has type one diabetes and for several years his parents have been forced to constantly monitor their son's blood sugar levels, The Mirror reports. One day after dinner, Thomas's parents checked his blood glucose level. The test strips showed that the boy's condition was normal. Soon Thomas's mom noticed that their dog Poppy began to behave strangely: she was worried, whining and jumping into her son's arms.
"Half an hour after that, Poppy jumped off the couch, jumped on my partner John's back and started barking. Poppy usually scours the ground when Thomas is unwell, sometimes she seems more persistent, but this time she has never been like that. We checked the son's blood and the device showed the norm. But the dog did not calm down," said Thomas's mother Jennifer Wiberly.
It turned out that the boy's blood sugar level fell faster than the home tests reacted to it. The parents called the doctors. And Thomas got worse and worse, eventually he lost consciousness. Doctors managed to save the child's life, he was taken to the hospital on the verge of a diabetic coma.
Parents believe that the main credit belongs to Poppy, who was the first to smell his health problems. The mother of three children, Jennifer Wieberly, said her son would not have survived without the puppy's intervention.
"Thomas's blood sugar was dropping faster than the tests could tell us, but we learned to trust Poppy's nose. I truly believe that she saved Thomas from a diabetic coma. I'm so glad we have Poppy to look after him. She lets us sleep at night." Thomas's mom says.
Spaniel Poppy has been specially trained by the charity to identify dangerous changes in type one diabetics. And the whole family trusts this family member like no one else.
Photos by The Mirror