‘Hypo Hound’ Echo proves a life-saver for diabetes sufferer Wendy

East Belfast mother Wendy Smith was already struggling to manage her Type 1 diabetes, having lost her low blood sugar (hypo) awareness following a surgical operation, when she was stuck down with the coronvirus in October.

Within weeks she had developed a nasty infection around the site of her insulin pump, requiring ten days on an IV antibiotic drip and three further weeks of antibiotic treatment.

“I think because Covid had hammered my immune system it took me a lot longer to get over an infection like that. I don’t think in normal times it would have taken hold so much,” Wendy said.

She said the unconditional love of her ‘working dog’ Echo, from Hypo Hounds, along with an online peer support group run by Diabetes UK (NI), has helped her through many dark days – including periods when the Covid lockdown was taking a toll on her mental health.

“I got great support from family but it wasn’t until I got talking to other people with diabetes and someone else who had had Covid as well that I realised I was mentally exhausted,” the mother-of-two, who is originally from Coleraine, said.

“I started to lose my hypo awareness after the operation, but it was after taking a hypo while driving my car around five years ago that I knew I needed a working dog from Hypo Hounds charity to help me manage my diabetes.

“I was having up to 15 hypos a week, including some during the night. I have no doubt Echo has saved my life countless times. She’s trained to alert me when my blood sugars go too low or high.

“She is trained to put her paw on my knee and bark to alert me, or if I’m in bed and Colin (Wendy’s husband) is downstairs she’ll annoy him so he knows to check on me.”

Most people living with type 1 diabetes are aware when they are having a hypo so they can take action to bring their blood glucose level back to a healthy range.

Wendy added; “Echo takes the pressure off the rest of family as they trust her to look after me and she is always great company but I appreciated her even more when I was recovering from Covid. Echo and the Diabetes UK NI online peer support group definitely helped me cope.

“This was the first time I got involved in a peer support group with other people with type 1 diabetes. I liked the way the groups are divided up for people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. I think that’s a great idea because there are so many misconceptions out there in relation to type 1 diabetes.”

Anyone wishing to register for a diabetes peer support group can email [email protected]