Hi, I'm Sarah. I am 12 years old, and I have type 1 diabetes. Type 1 diabetes means that my body doesn't produce insulin the way a normal body does. It isn't caused by eating too much sugar, or not enough exercise. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. No one really knows why I got it. I've had type 1 diabetes since I was 10 years old.

My family and I recently raised enough funds to help me get a diabetes alert service dog. Crystal from Canine Hope for Diabetics is training a dog especially for me. This dog will go with me everywhere; to school, to the mall, to my friends house, and to the theater. And my dog will sleep in my bedroom every night. Whenever my blood sugar begins to drop to a dangerous level, this dog will let me or my mom know so I can eat or drink something with sugar (like apple juice or crackers). I need a diabetes alert dog because I have something called hypoglycemic unawareness. This is a fancy way of saying that I don't feel when my blood sugar is low until it is dangerously low, and I don't feel lows when I am asleep at all. My mom wakes up every night, usually several times, to check my blood sugar and make sure it is safe for me to sleep. And once, not long ago, I had a dangerous low at school and one of my teachers had to carry me to the office for treatment.

Now that I've raised the funds for my own dog, I really want to help other kids and adults with type 1 diabetes. You can help by donating just a little bit to the organization training these special dogs.