Brokaw Joins Campaign To Get Alert Dog For Diabetic Student

Caption: Ryan Phillips was 20 months old when he was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes. He wears an insulin pump 24/7.

Brokaw Early Learning Center student Ryan Phillips is a fun, energetic, loving 3-year-old boy who was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes when he was just 20 months old.

A Diabetic Alert Dog (DAD) would help assist Ryan in maintaining a safe and healthy blood sugar. When blood sugar levels get too high or too low, the body produces an odor that a dog can smell. Diabetic Alert Dogs are scent trained to detect these smells and alert the person, therefore possibly preventing any life threatening situations from occurring.

Brokaw has joined the “Ryan Helping Hands” online campaign to raise the funds to train and acquire one of these valuable service dogs. To date, a little over $5,085 has been raised toward the overall goal of $6,000.

The autoimmune disease developed in Ryan while he was sick, and trying to fight off a virus. In the process of making antibodies to fight the virus, Ryan’s body attacked itself, killing off the insulin producing beta cells in his pancreas. Since Ryan is no longer able to make insulin on his own, he has an insulin pump that he wears 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Sadly, there is not yet a cure for Type 1 Diabetes. This is a disease that needs to be monitored carefully on a daily basis. While Type 1 Diabetes is manageable, there are dangerous and life threatening situations that can occur if Ryan’s blood sugar gets too high or drops extremely low.

Being so young, Ryan is unable to understand what it feels like when his blood sugar goes too high or too low. These are conditions known as hypoglycemia (low blood sugar) unawareness and hyperglycemia (high blood sugar) unawareness.

For these reasons, a Diabetic Alert Dog would be a great addition in Ryan’s life. “Ryan’s Helping Hands” is a campaign trying to raising money to help Ryan obtain his Diabetic Alert Dog.

If you are interesting in helping Ryan and his family with a donation, please visit Ryan’s Helping Hands.