A DIABETIC woman owes her life to her wonder dog who pushed the panic button when she suffered a seizure.

Tyke, a crossbreed border collie, has been specially-trained as a personal assistance dog and had only been with his new owner, Rachel Price, for four days before he was called into action.

Ms Price, from Mendip Road, Billingham, Teesside, has type two diabetes mellitus and went into hypoglycemic shock, last Saturday.

She said: "Not everybody with diabetes is affected in exactly the same way and my symptoms tend to come on very quickly.

"I was very weak and drowsy, but I'm a strong-minded person. I just repeated Tyke's command word, touch, over and over in my head until it must have come out loud."

With that, Tyke sprang into action, using his paw to press an alarm button linked to Stockton Borough Council's care call team.

Ms Price said: "The next thing I knew, the room was full with paramedics and people from care call.

"He is absolutely marvellous and he may well have saved my life that day."

Ms Price has had diabetes since childhood.

Last year, she broke her leg in three places and dislocated her ankle as a result of a hypo-seizure.

"It's the first time I have had a dog like this, and it means I can take him anywhere I go and relax knowing he can raise the alarm if I need him to," she said.

Doug Carhart, head of Stockton council's security service, said: "A combination of Tyke's superb senses, the quick action of our team and the paramedics concluded in a very positive outcome, but the story could have been very different."

For his efforts, the 14-month-old dog was given two pounds of best braising steak from the local butchers.

Tyke, like all personal assistance dogs, was a rescued dog.

He is capable of responding to the smell of smoke, the sound of alarms, and even changes in his owner's breathing.

Personal assistance dogs are trained at a cost of £5,000, which is met by charitable donations.

For more information about personal assistance dogs, contact 0114 246 0088 or visit the website at www.personal-assistance-dogs.org.uk