Jedi is a special dog. He’s three years old and a constant companion to seven-year-old Luke, who has had type 1 diabetes since he was two.
Jedi and Luke live in Glendale, California and lead a seemingly normal life. But it’s important for Jedi to constantly keep track of Luke’s blood sugar levels. When he was a puppy, Jedi was trained to let Luke’s mother, Dorrie, know when her son’s blood glucose levels are changing. And recently, he really proved to be quite beneficial.
Since Luke’s pancreas can’t produce insulin, his blood sugar levels quickly sink and soar. But Jedi is constantly at his side, and has been for some years.
When Like’s blood sugar drops too low, Luke feels a sensation in his hands and feet, becomes dizzy, and experience pain in his stomach, his mother, Dorrie, told ABC News. And when the opposite happens, Luke’s blood sugar levels spike and his vital organs can be damaged.
Labrador Jedi can smell the changes in Luke’s blood sugar levels and has a way to notify Dorrie every time it happens.
At one point, Luke’s blood sugar dropped in the middle of the night. But thanks to Jedi, Dorrie knew in time. After the incident, she wrote about it in a post on Facebook that has been shared more than 184,000 times.
“Jedi jumped off the bed, then back on again, though I felt him do this I didn’t wake up,” she wrote on Facebook. “Then Jedi laid on me. I woke up… Without Jedi I would have had no idea that he was dropping out of a safe range,” Dorrie wrote in the post.
Luke has a special glucose monitoring system that sends signals to his mother’s phone, but Jedi is almost always quicker to sense blood sugar changes. And although many times a monitor would be enough, Jedi has also helped in many other ways, Dorrie told ABC News.
“The two are the silliest two things together, and Jedi has brought so much joy and laughter. Though type 1 diabetes has certainly been a part of Luke’s childhood, we want him to know it didn’t ruin his or our lives and that he had Jedi—this great dog in his life,” she told the TV company.
And who knows what would happen if Dorrie ever slept so deeply that the notifications on her phone wouldn’t wake her up? It’s a little difficult to sleep with a dog sitting on you.
Plus, Jedi gives Luke companionship throughout the good times and the bad. Because sometimes, the seven-year-old gets frustrated and wonders if he’ll ever be cured of his disease. Then, it’s lucky that he and Jedi have each other.
It’s truly amazing what dogs can do for us humans! Did you also enjoy this story? Please share it with your friends.
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