Family Holds Fundraiser To Buy Diabetic-Alert Dog For Special-Needs Boy
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) - California's unusually warm winter weather has its pluses. One local family is taking advantage of the weather by making money with yard sales.
Seven-year-old Nicholas Keim was born with Down syndrome and diagnosed with type 1 diabetes when he was 18 months old. He is unable to check his blood sugar levels on his own, but one thing that can help the family deal with this life-threatening disease is having a diabetic-alert dog.
"The diabetic-alert dog can sense his high and low blood sugars from 30 to 40 minutes before the meter can tell us," said Krista Keim, Nicholas' mother.
Krista checks his blood sugar every two hours even throughout the night.
"The dog would alert us by pawing at us or bark and could even be trained to bring us the meter to check his blood," said Krista.
A trained dog costs $10,000. Family and friends helped Krista put on a yard sale, one of many fundraisers.
"People I didn't even know…notified me, emailed me through friends and donated all of this stuff and it's just amazing," said Krista.
So far, the family has raised a little over $1,000 -- all going towards keeping Nicholas a healthy boy.
"He is funny and makes me laugh every day and he is my whole life," said Krista.
Updates can be found on their Facebook page, which is called Diabetic Alert Dog for Nicholas, and on their gofundme page.
