A hero service dog was excitedly treated to a new toy after saving his owner's life in the middle of the night. Allison Albin, 21, from South Lyon, Michigan, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was five years old and doesn't remember life without the condition. When she was 17, she was also diagnosed with Addison's disease, a rare disorder of the adrenal glands not producing enough cortisol and aldosterone, which almost caused her to almost lose her life. Following a long recovery, Allison and her family were worried about her future independence, as Addison's disease made her diabetes management much more difficult. Fearing for when she would be living on her own or attending college, Allison’s family decided she needed a service dog, and so she got Jasper, a golden retriever puppy, when he was 12 weeks old. For two years, Jasper was by Allison's side, attending all her classes and there when she graduated. His main responsibility is low blood sugar detection, particularly in the night, which he does by nudging Allison in at various points while she's asleep to make sure her sugars have not dropped too low. Sugar lows had resulted in seizures in the past, and one night, on February 12, at around 2am, Jasper's face nudges resulted in no response from Allison, nor his next trained step of flicking her hand. The fast-thinking pooch then had the foresight to remove Allison's blankets and start chewing on her foot, waking the 21-year-old up so she could treat herself. Allison shared an explainer video on social media, looking to raise awareness of the work dogs like Jasper do, which went viral with viewers heaping praise on Jasper for being a good boy.
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LifestyleTranscript
00:00and I woke up at 3 a.m. to my foot completely in his mouth."
00:04Allison has type 1 diabetes and Addison's disease, making her blood sugar levels unpredictable,
00:09especially at night. But luckily, she has Jasper, her diabetic alert dog,
00:14always on duty by her side.
00:15"'Usually when he wakes me up at night, he boops my face with his nose. I'm guessing
00:20he did that and I didn't wake up. Then he'll move on to my hands. He flicks them up like
00:24this with his nose. Again, I'm sure I didn't wake up. I don't know what possessed him to
00:29think to literally take the blankets off my legs and chew on my toes to wake me up."
00:34But Allison was sure glad he did.
00:36"'My blood sugar was 59. And when I was 16 years old, I had a seizure in my sleep,
00:40and my blood sugar was 59, and I almost lost my life.'"
00:43To show her gratitude for his life-saving nibble,
00:46Allison decided to treat Jasper to a special surprise.
00:49"'Oh my gosh. He had this when he was a baby.
00:52He loves little things, like little tiny toys, too. They have a mini version. I didn't ask
01:01for a bag, so he's just going to see it, like, immediately. Hi, Jasper. Hi. Oh, you love him.
01:13Sometimes I feel like I don't appreciate him enough. His whole life is thinking about me,
01:20thinking about how to help me and how to save me in certain situations. I don't deserve him.'"