Disabled mother reveals how amazing detection dog from Aylesbury Vale service changed her life

A disabled mother has revealed how her life was changed when she was partnered with a specially changed medical detection dog from an Aylesbury Vale service.

Michelle, who has Postural Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS) credits Medical Detection Dogs with enabling her to raise a family.

Medical Detection Dogs is a not-for-profit organisation based in Great Horwood, which specialises in matching disabled people with trained canines that can improve a person's quality of life.

It was two years after Michelle's diagnosis that she was paired with Frances in 2017, a one-year-old puppy.

The year prior had been tough on Michelle, although she married her childhood sweetheart and bought a family home, her condition was worsening.

She said: "It was an unsettling time for me as my POTS was very unstable. I had to abruptly leave university overnight and surrender my driving license on medical grounds due to daily recurring fainting episodes. 

"I became more unwell. By 2016 I was a wheelchair user, relying more and more on my chair to get around.

"The career I wanted was becoming increasingly unrealistic, as was the idea of having a family. 

"I was in a vicious circle in that the more I remained seated to protect myself from fainting, the more my body de-conditioned, affecting my other medical conditions."

Michelle details the instant connection she built up with Francis and just how quickly she realised he could help.

She added: "In 2017 I was matched with Francis and we met at The MDD Centre for the first time and then again soon after in an outside environment.

"The second meeting was amazing, he was so very excited to see me.

"He walked to heel against my wheelchair (with no prior wheelchair training in his life) and I gestured for his paws on my lap so I did not need to bend over to undo his jacket. Again, he did this naturally without being trained to do so. From then on, Francis and I gelled and the rest is history."

Michelle believes having a support dog helped her reach a point where she felt comfortable raising a family, despite living with the challenges of POTS.

Michelle said: "Prior to matching with Francis, I made the charity aware that my husband and I would like to start our own family.

"There was no plan B for me at the time as to what I would have done if Francis had not entered my life.

"I am sure I would have researched and learned how other disabled parents make things work because I knew I wanted children more than anything.

"But I desperately did not want to put a baby or myself in a vulnerable situation either. I am very thankful to MDD - they took my needs and wants seriously when matching me with Francis."

Francis has evolved with Michelle and helped her in new ways once she became pregnant.

"Francis' alerting skills were excellent from the start", Michelle says, "but suddenly in April 2018, Francis stopped alerting for around seven to 10 days.

"I realised afterwards that it was because I was pregnant with my daughter and my hormonal balance and smell, had changed and Francis was, in his own way, telling me this.

"Once we were over this initial change Francis continued to alert as normal.

"After having my daughter, Francis would appropriately alert me if I was standing at her changing table, so I would have time to take her off the table and sit on the floor or would alert me before walking about with the baby and so on.

"My family realised I was in safe paws with Fran and the number of "safety check in calls" reduced from my parents and husband as they knew I was OK being alone during the day. 

"In April 2021, Francis again stopped alerting, but this time only for about 3-4 days. Surely not... but, yes, baby no. 2 was on his way.

"My first pregnancy was beautiful and my POTS was very manageable. This time it was different - my POTS was angry, severe and I was suffering but in a strange way, Francis was loving life.

"Alerting is really a big game to him - if I am unwell, he is rewarded with food, so he has a positive association to the illness. Francis was in heaven."

Further charting her progress Michelle went on to outline just how far she's come over the last five plus years using MDD's service.

She concluded: "It’s not only the new baby that Francis looks out for, it's my daughter and I too.

"Due to potential recurring fainting episodes, I would not feel confident being in a public place on my own with my three-year-old, but with Francis I do.

"Being able to safely have our daughter was such a gift to us, but I now have two children, I work, manage a home, finished my undergraduate degree and am on the last leg of my masters degree. This is something that I would never have thought possible.  

"I am so very thankful to MDD and all that they have given me, not only in Francis, but their continued support throughout my journey."

MDD has a donation page on its website which can be accessed online here.