That’s a good boy! Primary school teacher with severe fainting disorder says her medical detection dog has changed her life
- Lucy Burls, 36, of New Malden, London, has conditions which make her collapse
- Ms Burls’s black labrador Wolfie who detects episodes has given her ‘life back’
A primary school teacher says she is ‘free to live her life again’ despite a severe fainting disorder – thanks to a very special medical detection dog.
Lucy Burls has myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) as well as postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), which sees her regularly collapse with no warning.
The special educational needs coordinator, 36, felt forced to quit her job because she feared hurting herself during an episode.
But now her mind has been put at ease as she has black labrador Wolfie who, thanks to his super sensitive smell, has been trained to detect small changes in odours produced by the human body associated with disease.
Ms Burls, of New Malden in south-west London, said: : ‘Wolfie alerts me when I’m about to have an episode by sitting in front of me and giving me a fixed stare – he won’t leave me until I’ve laid down.
A primary school teacher says she is ‘free to live her life again’ despite a severe fainting disorder – thanks to a very special medical detection dog
Lucy Burls (pictured) has myalgic encephalomyelitis (ME) as well as postural tachycardia syndrome (PoTS), which sees her regularly collapse with no warning
‘His sense of smell is so acute that he can smell a teaspoon of sugar in a swimming pool. That change is imperceptible to humans.’
PoTs means her brain does not tell her heart to beat at the correct pace, so she often gets dizzy and loses consciousness.
She added: ‘I’d injured myself quite badly a few times and knew it was only a matter of time before I suffered a terrible head injury. My husband Chris was so worried about me, but I knew I couldn’t just stay inside my whole life.’
Ms Burls, who also had cancer treatment in 2019, applied for a canine companion through the charity Medical Detection Dogs (MDD) and had regular online training sessions with the charity’s specialist trainer.
Ms Burls said she welcomed Wolfie in their home in August 2020 and that he was soon alerting her up to ten minutes before an episode.
‘It was like he had a superpower. Once Wolfie alerted me to sit on the sofa but I didn’t get my legs up in time – as I slumped over, he launched himself under me to protect me as I fell. I woke up with a Wolfie pillow under me, his tongue wagging away.’
She added: ‘Sadly, because of my cancer treatment, I’ve been told the chances of Chris and me starting a family are very small, but with Wolfie I feel like I’ve got everything I need – and my life back.
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