Shanice is 10 years old. His family came to live in Saint-André three years ago. She has type 1 diabetes, meaning that her body does not produce insulin to regulate the level of glucose in the blood. Without external insulin supply, she could not survive.
Since the end of October, Shanice has received assistance from a Labrador trained to assist diabetic children. It is one of a very small number of animals educated by the Acadia association, located in the Drôme, which provides between 5 and 10 dogs per year to a few households among the hundred families who request it each year. In fact, the unit cost of training and training dogs is 25,000 €.
Christelle, Shanice’s mother, tells the story of her daughter: “Shanice fell into a diabetic coma at the age of 20 months. She was luckily rescued by the doctors. She attended school until she was 8 years old.
Due to adjustment difficulties in the school environment, which created psychological problems, we took her out of school. She takes lessons at home “.
One day, the family heard about Acadia and the dogs able to smell any abnormality in the child’s glucose balance. “Shanice was captivated by this possibility of animal mediation. We put together a case, which was finally accepted, and we were entrusted with Odessa, a magnificent Labrador. She is capable, when she senses the beginning of a phase by smell. hypoglycemic at Shanice, to warn us by pushing us aside with the muzzle. In the event that no adult is visible, she has learned to use an audible push button alarm “.
Even if parental vigilance remains necessary, especially at night, Odessa’s presence has changed the life of the family. Most importantly, she returned Shanice to her beautiful smile.
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