Altnagelvin Hospital in Derry recently welcomed a very unique visitor to its paediatric diabetes clinic.
Nine year old Senan Moss, from Castlederg in Co Tyrone, has been attending the clinic for the last six years and commenced insulin pump therapy in late 2009.
Seanan has no awareness of being hypoglycaemic so his mother, Sinead, carried some research into obtaining a “scent” dog.
As a result, she decided to buy her own dog, a golden retriever named Safie several years ago and trained her herself to alert her to when Senan’s blood sugars went below five.
Bernie Trainor, paediatric consultant at Altnagelvin, said: “Last week was Safie’s first time accompanying Senan to the paediatric diabetes clinic and her presence certainly brought a smile to everyone’s faces.
“We are delighted that she is now fully certified to come along to all Senan’s visits and we look forward to seeing Senan and Safie in the future.”