girl with dogAfter her daughter, Faith, was diagnosed with an extremely rare and dangerous form of diabetes, Sarah Wilson used to live in fear. She describes how she would repeatedly wake up during the night in a panic and race into the girl's bedroom just to make sure was alive.

Today, however, she sleeps a little easier because of the assistance of Ruby -- a specially trained diabetic alert dog that joined their family about two years ago. In an amazing story from KLTV, Sarah says the dog has saved her daughter's life "countless times" over the past couple of years, and that she knows without Ruby, she would have buried her daughter already.

Amazingly, Ruby is able to detect rises and falls in Faith's blood sugar by smell. When something is off, Ruby brings Sarah a specially designated stuffed toy to alert her to a problem, or she starts barking.

It's incredible that a dog is able to do that, but it's only a special kind of dog that is able to do so. Rachel Thornton, from Wildrose Kennel in Mississippi where they got Ruby, told the station:

It's a very researched very scientific breeding to produce the type of dog we're looking for. We breed for scent ability and temperament, and it yields a dog that has done very good as a diabetic alert dog.

The dogs typically run about $10,000, and in Ruby's case, the family's church and local donors helped pay for her. There are several centers across the country that breed the dogs as well.

I have a friend whose son has diabetes, and the constant monitoring and maintenance are overwhelming, so I can only imagine what a relief this form of assistance could be for someone in a similar position. Hopefully, other families will see Ruby's touching story and perhaps be able to benefit from a service dog as well.

Here's more about this amazing dog and what she's done for this family.

Do you know anyone who has a child with diabetes? 

 

Image via KLTV