Diabetic child from Belmont needs help funding ‘guardian angel’

John Angier lives in dangerous times. Born with a rare genetic disorder, John, 5, can’t speak, meaning he can’t ask for help when his condition triggers dangerous, daily bouts of hypoglycemia. His parents, John and Jenni, must watch him constantly, guarding against diabetic coma caused by plummeting blood sugar.

“You constantly have to prick his finger and test his blood. He gets checked about 10 times a day on the average,” said John Sr..

It’s no easy task, but one which might be getting easier with the arrival of Rusty, a diabetic service dog from Warren Retrievers.

When John’s blood-sugar drops, his skin becomes clammy and it’s likely he feels nauseous, Jenni said. But even when his parents are watching him closely, they really have no way of knowing how their son is feeling. When his sugar level drops, John is at risk for suffering a seizure, or lapsing into coma and dying.

Keeping watch is undoubtedly stressful for John and Jenni, but bringing in a diabetic service dog will likely lighten the burden. The chocolate lab, which the Angier’s 7-year-old daughter Sienna named Rusty, was one of two dogs picked from a litter. Rusty will be specifically trained to smell when John’s sugars are too high or too low.

It seems a complicated task for an animal whose main hobbies are chewing on bones and playing fetch.

Jenni compares a dog’s sense of smell to a human’s ability to smell a spoonful of sugar in a cup of water. A dog, Jenni said, can smell that same spoonful if it was dropped into an Olympic size swimming pool.

“In a diabetic they can smell the sugars are dropping or increasing anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes from when they start to drop,” Jenni said.

Knowing when John’s sugars are low will help his parents treat him sooner, preventing damage to the brain and organs.

The Angiers are excited about their soon-to-be assistant, who will join their 12-year-old dog, Jasmine. They put down a $1,000 deposit with Warren Retrievers in December.

Now all John and Jenni need to do is come up with $13,000.

Rusty costs $20,000, but with their deposit and $6,000 donated from family and friends, the Angiers were able to lower the total cost. They have a year and a half to pay and Rusty should arrive sometime this summer.

Jenni has no doubt the money needed will be raised. She trusts in people’s good will to help her son.

The family will be trained on how to work with the dog. In two years, a trainer will come back and teach Rusty new ways of assisting John, such as learning how to retrieve his sugar kit in times of need. Jenni is hopeful the dog will be able to keep an eye on John and alert them when something is wrong.

John has a bad habit of running out the door into the street. The front door is often chained shut, but sometimes it’s not enough to keep John from sprinting out into the road. Besides, Jenni said, it’s only a matter of time before he figures out how to use a step stool.

“My goal is to at least have the dog help keep him in because he’s fast,” Jenni said.

According to Dan Warren, president of Warren Retrievers, Rusty can eventually be trained to dial 911 on a special device in an emergency. His company’s nonprofit branch is called Guardian Angel Service Dogs, a name he thinks reflects how closely bonded a child becomes with his or her dog.

“It’s independence. It’s peace of mind. It’s quality of life,” Warren said, a Type 1 diabetic himself.

At the very least, John’s dad is hopeful the diabetic dog will become a companion for his son. While John enjoys playing with Jasmine, Rusty will accompany John wherever he goes, even to school at the Wellington.

“It’s not like people call you for play dates and birthday parties and stuff. The dog is going to be his friend,” John, Sr. said.

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