Chris was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes when he was 10 years old after his Mother noticed he was constantly thirsty. 

Growing up, he managed his condition as best he could and stayed active, playing lots of sport, especially cricket. But in 2009, he got Lyme disease which had a profound impact on his diabetes. It caused him to lose a lot of hypo awareness, which gradually got worse. He was admitted to hospital multiple times and had some really scary experiences.

Several years of trying different types of treatment and technology brought many ups and downs and it became clear that the severity of his condition meant that no medical interventions were very reliable for him. His night hypos were particularly dangerous.

Chris says: “I tried everything the doctors suggested. But all the technology and equipment were far too unreliable and often made things worse. I remember one pump going off in the night telling me my levels were high but there was actually a blockage in the pump as I’d slept on the wire and it had twisted. All the insulin from the pump went into my body in addition to what I injected to correct what the pump had told me I needed to. This meant I took 2 loads of insulin, causing me to overdose. It caused me to bite lumps off my tongue and other injuries and was really scary.”

Chris had 2 children, and shortly afterwards, became a single parent. Raising them alone, working and trying to manage his diabetes was challenging and on more than one occasion, his young children had to call paramedics when they found their Daddy unconscious.
Chris says: “At that time, I would have bad spells with night clusters. Once, when my daughter was 6 and my son was 4, they called an ambulance for me. It must have been so scary for them.” 

Chris started his own gardening business so he had more flexibility with the children and soon afterwards, met his wife, Maggie. Chris and Maggie had two children and Chris gained 2 step children. It was Maggie that first heard about Medical Detection Dogs in a magazine in the hospital she worked in.

Then, by chance, they met someone whose sister had a Medical Alert Assistance Dog and explained how amazing it had been.

Chris contacted MDD as well as his specialist to help him gather his medical info, and he was invited to the charity’s Centre.

Chris says: “The staff at MDD were amazing, explaining in detail the criteria and the process. There was an existing client with T1d at the event, and we saw her dog alert her. I was just amazed. I sent in my blood test results and was accepted onto the programme. I knew it might not be easy but I had no doubts at any stage of the application process. If anything, after the meeting I felt more positive than I had in ages. Over the next few months, I met some of the trainers and a few dogs for handling practice and had more information sessions.”

Chris wasn’t to know at this stage that the complexity of his condition was to make him one of the charity’s most challenging clients in its history. In fact, Chris went on to be matched with 3 dogs in the months that followed and they started alerting very successfully, but then for various reasons tailed off. Chris had been told that this was a possibility with every client and not every first match is successful and patiently waited until the right match came along.

Chris says: “I must admit at this stage I did start to wonder if it would ever happen. I watched dogs I had trialled go on to be accredited with other clients and felt so happy for them, but started to think that I needed to accept that I just wasn’t going to be lucky with this avenue.”
Enter Ivan, a huge, goofy Labrador X Retriever who Chris had actually met previously in a handling session.

Chris says: “MDD called to say that Ivan needed somewhere to stay when his trainer, Simmy, who he was living with, went on holiday. Little did I know that this was a bit of a ruse - the charity wanted to see how he was with me and my odour but didn’t tell me this to take the pressure off a little bit after all the disappointment.

“It was love at first sight. He is a such big dog but so sensitive and daft. As long as he has a ball he was happy and his massive tail never stops wagging. We had a pet dog too and they accepted each other immediately.”

The MDD team was so pleased with how Ivan had fitted in with Chris’s family and lifestyle and now the elusive, reliable alerting was the only question mark.

But they needn’t have worried. Thanks to hard work from Chris and Ivan’s training team, and a deep understanding from Chris about what he needed to do to avoid a repeat of the last attempts, Ivan started to alert successfully, and importantly, continued.

“His manner changes when he’s alerting me. He starts by looking at me very closely and getting restless. His warnings vary depending how fast my bloods are dropping and at night he is very polite and puts his face very close to mine rather than nudging or jumping. He is very accurate – he alerts when I’m between 3.9 and 4.5 and 12 as a high.

“I landscape the gardens at my local hospital and Ivan comes with me every day. When we’re there, he will nudge me, back off and then jump up and down animatedly if I don’t notice straight away. As well as keeping me safe and saving my life, the staff and patients love him and he is a bit a celebrity.”

Life since having Ivan is now completely different for Chris and his family.

“We go on holiday and it is a totally different feeling now. We like to walk and we recently took Ivan up Ben Nevis and he alerted me on the way down. There was no drama – I tested my sugar levels and he got a piece of sausage – and then he jumped around excitedly!
“Maggie is much more relaxed when I am on my own now with Ivan, knowing that there is no risk of me wandering off when I’m confused before a hypo. He gives me such reassurance, confidence and freedom.

“I would like to give everyone at MDD a big hug for all their efforts and perseverance.  It must have been disheartening for them at times as it wasn’t a straightforward journey, but the whole team was brilliant at trying different ideas and not giving up and had an amazing attitude that we can do this and it will happen.

“Ivan is the most wonderful dog with a big personality and I can’t imagine life without him. He was worth the wait.”