Terry Mather was visiting his daughter, Jayne Mather, in Sunderland in northeast England. While the 82-year-old retired lecturer was snoring soundly, Jayne’s 15-month-old Bernese Mountain Dog, Bruno, was keeping watch. Suddenly, Bruno began barking!
According to the Sunderland Echo, Jayne rushed to Terry’s room with her partner, Andy McKenzie. They discovered that Terry had extremely low blood sugar levels. Such low levels can cause a person to fall into a coma. When they were unable to wake Terry, the two called the paramedics who took Terry to the Sunderland Royal Hospital.
The story has a happy ending, though. Because of how quickly they discovered Terry and were able to call the paramedics, Terry received treatment before any serious harm could occur and “is recovering really well” according to Jayne.
“It’s incredible what has happened…Bruno is only a puppy,” Jayne said afterward. “Bruno really has saved him [Terry], because he might have been lying in that bed for eight hours and could have had organ failure, a heart attack, or ended up in a coma. He could have died, so Bruno really has saved his life.” Andy, grateful that his father-in-law was saved by his puppy added, “We have read about dogs who can detect low blood sugars and they are trained to react to this, but Bruno is still a puppy and has had no training at all, but reacted to Terry having a hypoglycaemic attack from outside the room.” In fact, it’s not just Andy and Jayne who were amazed by Bruno’s actions. Andy shared that “The paramedics and the A&E staff at the Royal [hospital] were astonished at what had happened.”
The whole family is grateful for Bruno’s sharp nose and swift reaction. Without Bruno’s actions that night, as Andy said, “the consequences don’t bear thinking about.” Bruno will not only be getting gratitude though. Andy shared with reporters, “I’ve told Terry that he will have to buy him a couple of steaks to say thanks!” We’re sure Terry will be happy to reward the puppy who saved his life.