Scenting danger to help protect Alice’s health

Alice Halstead spent most of her teenage years confined to a hospital ward, but now, thanks to her new best friend, Holly, she is gaining independence for the first time. Catherine Scott reports.
Alice Halstead with her diabetic alert dog Holly, and below with her mumAlice Halstead with her diabetic alert dog Holly, and below with her mum
Alice Halstead with her diabetic alert dog Holly, and below with her mum

They say that man’s best friend is his dog, well in the case of Alice Halstead her dog Holly is also her life saver.

Alice suffers from an extremely rare form of Type 1 diabetes which means her blood sugar levels can plummet dangerously or rocket sky-high without warning.

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But Holly, a fully-trained medical detection dog, can smell the change in Alice’s blood sugar levels and alerts her by licking her hand to gain her attention.

If she is ignored, the black curly haired retriever will become more insistant, eventually fetching Alice’s blood testing kit for her.

“She is always right,” says Alice, from Embsay.

“She is incredible. She can sense so early on that something is changing in me. She can alert and I can test and my levels will be okay and then ten minutes later they will have dropped or rocketed.”

It is two years since Alice first got Holly and the dog has changed Alice’s life and that 
of her parents.

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Until Holly was on the scene, Alice’s mum Linda could not leave her daughter’s side, although she still has to sleep in Alice’s room to constantly check her blood sugar levels or else she could suffer a seizure or fall into a diabetic coma.

“She never got any warning and could easily just collapse and need emergency treatment,” explains Linda.

For more than three years Linda was at her daughter’s side when she was forced to live in Leeds General Infirmary and Airedale Hospital, from the age of 16. She even spent her 18th birthday in the hospital as it was dangerous for her to be away from medical help.

“I get no warning when my levels are going to change which can be very dangerous,” says Alice, 
now 22.

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Alice was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when she was 15 but doctors struggled to treat her condition. She took tests but the results baffled the doctors. In the end they sent samples of the teenager’s blood around the globe. They even posted requests for help on the internet in an attempt to find other doctors with patients showing similar symptoms.

Eventually they got some results – a high insulin level and insulin antibodies were present, a condition known as Hiratas Disease, which explained such severe symptoms.

Alice’s body produces antibodies which fight the insulin she needs to keep 
her alive.

Any insulin injected into her body is stored by the antibodies, which then release large amounts into her bloodstream, causing her blood sugar to plummet.

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It wasn’t until Christmas 2010 that Alice was eventually allowed home after a number of false alarms when doctors didn’t feel it was safe for her to leave the confines of her hospital room. But even though she was home, she still couldn’t be left alone. A nurse had to be with her at night and Linda was her constant daytime companion.

It was then Alice read about Medical Detection Dogs.

“I began to have a glimmer of hope that maybe with the help of a specially trained assistance dog, I could start to gain some independence.”

Medical Alert Assistance Dogs, as Holly is officially known, are trained to help people with life-threatening health conditions, giving them greater independence and above all saving their lives on a daily basis. Dogs are trained to assist individuals who manage complex health conditions. They are taught to identify the odour changes that are associated with life-threatening medical events.

With their amazing sense of smell the dogs are trained to detect minute changes in blood sugar levels.

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When these levels fall or rise outside the normal range they will warn their owner, get help and fetch any vital medical supplies.

The only problem was Alice didn’t very much like dogs.

“I wasn’t an animal lover,” she admits. “I couldn’t think of anything worse than a dog licking my face.

“But it soon became clear that my condition wasn’t going to get any better, and I couldn’t spend the rest of my life walking around with mum or a carer and so a dog was something that could give me a bit more normality. We researched it and I was placed on the waiting list which normally takes three years.” Within eight months Alice travelled to Milton Keynes to the charity’s headquarters for an interview and due to the severity of her condition was moved to the top of the list and within six months she met Holly.

Two years on and the pair are inseparable. Holly sleeps in her own bed beside Alice’s, the bond between the two is clear to see. Holly is calm and loving and seems far more a beloved pet than a working dog, laying placidly at Alice’s feet. And then she detects a change in Alice’s blood sugar and immediately starts to lick Alice’s hand until she tests her blood sugar which has started to drop.

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“She alerted so many times in the first few weeks that they feared she might becomes exhausted,” says Alice who has just been named most Aspirational Woman in the Inspiration Awards for Women for her work with Rays of Sunshine for which she is an ambassador. While in hospital she launched Alice’s Sunshine Appeal which 
has raised nearly £50,000 to help sick children’s dreams come true.

“I couldn’t believe it when they read my name out at the awards ceremony. I just screamed.”

Alice’s health continues to vex the medics, but she accepts that she is probably as good as she will get.

But life for Alice now is good, thanks to her bestfriend Holly.

Alice’s award for charity work

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Alice Halstead started her Sunshine Appeal while she was living in hospital suffering from a rare form of diabetes. She knew first hand the power of Rays of Sunshine after the charity arranged for her to go to see The Lion King in London. She decided she wanted to do something to help and started organsing a fund-raising ball which has now become an annual event. Alice has raised nearly £50,000 for the charity and now works as one of their Ambassadors when she is well enough.

As a result of her charity work Alice has received numerous awards. The most recent was Most Aspirational Woman at the Inspiration Awards for Women. Other accolades include winning Just Giving’s outstanding commitment to fundraising category for 
her efforts over the past four years.

She has also received the Stray FM Local 
Hero Award.

www.sunshineappeal.org.uk

Tomorrow is World Diabetes Day. For more information visit www.diabetes.org.uk/

www.medicaldetection dogs.org.uk

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