Family gets donation for diabetes alert dog

A Topeka mom said receiving a $5,000 donation for her son to get a diabetes alert dog has been an unexpected blessing.

Isaiah Ramirez, 5, was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at the end of 2016, his mom Leslie Lewis said.

She learned about diabetes alert dogs after joining a support group on social media and found Tattle Tail Scent Dogs, a company that breeds diabetes alert dogs based in Salt Lake City.

The Labrador retrievers are trained to detect high or low blood sugar levels, said Kristi Urban, team coordinator with Tattle Tail. After going through basic obedience training, they conduct scent work where they are exposed to several hundred high and low blood sugar scents that are expelled from people's breath and other body parts. Urban said each dog develops a an alert, like using their left paw to signal when blood sugar levels are too high or low.

Lewis and local organizations held fundraisers, but they still weren't close to the $5,000 price tag.

Scott Hunsicker said he saw a story from The Topeka Capital-Journal about one of the fundraisers and felt compelled to do something. As luck would have it, he was traveling to Salt Lake City for a business trip earlier this month.

He ended up meeting with Tattle Tail and said he was impressed by their work. During the visit, he delivered the news to Lewis and Isaiah via FaceTime that through his company, Kansas Financial Resources, he was making a donation for the dog.

Lewis said the donation was "a miracle."

She said she often worries about her son, especially at night, and that the dog will give her peace of mind.

Hunsicker said he hopes having the alert dog will give Lewis confidence that she can get some rest and that Isaiah will have a brighter outlook on the disease by having a buddy.

"You can't put a price on that," he said.

Hunsicker is familiar with the challenges of Type 1 diabetes, having been diagnosed when he was a teenager.

"It's like living on a roller coaster," he said. "It's difficult."

Two or three litters are born each year, and Isaiah should get a puppy by the summer. Once the dog is available, Isaiah and his family will travel to Salt Lake City for orientation. A year of online training will follow.

Money already raised will go toward travel expenses and dog insurance.

"Nothing's made me feel as good as what we did here," Hunsicker said.