'I didn't believe in love at first sight': Student's life transformed with medical assistance dog
As we sit in 23-year old Jade's house her condition becomes clear. Her dog starts barking, her heart rate spikes and she's forced to lie down next to her fox red labrador Jules for fear of collapsing.
She clips on a fingertip pulse monitor as we nervously watch her heart rate go back to an acceptable level.
Jade has Postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome (PoTS). A condition when your heart rate increases very quickly often making you feel dizzy or lightheaded.
There's currently no cure for it. But Jules is Jade's warning system. The labrador is a medical detection dog.
'He's the warning system I didn't have before,' says Jade.
'Before Jules I was having back-to-back concussions. Since he came he's been 100% accurate and has never incorrectly alerted. I haven't been injured a single time since I've had him.
'Before Jules I would have had to crawl around the house to get around because when my mum was at work because I could have hit my head.'
As part of a new season of Dogs With Jobs the team have been meeting dozens of amazing dogs doing extraordinary things across Northern Ireland.
Jade's story is unique to this part of the world with her dog Jules being the only Medical Detection Dog in Northern Ireland.
'I didn't believe in love at first sight until I saw Jules.
'He's got so much personality. All the other treatment options failed and I didn't want to imagine a dog not working out as well. I couldn't be without him, even for five minutes.'
It's given the third-year veterinary student some confidence back and the hope that her dream career is possible.
'It was so dangerous in practical exams with scalpels and everything. I was told I wouldn't be allowed to go back to university if I didn't have an alert dog.
'I thought the dream of being a vet was completely over. It kind of felt like everything was taken away. But now that Jules is there I feel like anything is possible now.
'I went years without going to shops or cafes or out with my friends but now we can do that together because I know he'll give me the heads up when something is going to go wrong.
'I got into veterinary to help other animals and I never thought an animal would end up helping me so much. So Jules really is a lifesaver for me, and for other animals I might be able to help in the future.'
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