A GRATEFUL mother says her diabetic son’s life was saved by their keen-nosed pup.

Seven-year-old Thomas French was rushed to Basildon Hospital on Saturday, October 1, after Poppy alerted parents that he was in danger.

The two-year-old springer spaniel is a qualified diabetic alert dog and is trained in recognising when Thomas’ blood sugar levels are dropping dangerously low.

READ MORE

Mum, Jennifer Whiberley said: “She launched herself off the sofa at dad Jon, barking and circling him in a frantic effort to get his attention. Poppy is a trained to alert us using her paw for Thomas to check his bloods.

“So we knew something was wrong, when her behaviour was so insistent.”

Just half an hour after Thomas ate his dinner Saturday night, Poppy started alerting the family that something was wrong.

When they checked the south Ockenson youngster's blood glucose levels, they were 7, a good number, but Poppy would not give up.

The family checked again and within moments he had gone down to 3.1, crashing dangerously.

“Thomas was crashing in his blood sugars quicker than the technology could tell us, but we have learnt to trust Poppy’s nose. I truly believe that she has saved Thomas from going into a life-threatening diabetic coma,” Jennifer said.

His lips were turning blue, and his cheeks were grey as he plummeted to 2.2, so they called an ambulance.

“We don’t know what made him crash so quickly,” Jennifer said.

“When we got taken to the hospital, they checked everything we had done for his dinner and there was no reason, which is worrying.

“I’m just so relieved we have Poppy to keep an eye on him. She allows us to sleep at night. We have learnt to absolutely trust her and never ignore when she is trying to tell us something is wrong.”

Poppy came to the family in June 2021 and was trained by charity Hypo Hounds as a diabetic alert dog.

Founder and CEO, Jane Pearman said: “From puppy selection it was clear that Poppy was a dog with what is called a ‘high-drive’.

“She is very clever and needs to be working her brain, so when Thomas’ family came along and mum Jennifer described Thomas as being extremely active and non-stop, we knew they would be a good match.”