Fast food staff member praised for helping woman with diabetes

[DCUK NewsBot]

An online post praising a Burger King employee for helping a woman with type 1 diabetes has gone viral. Rebecca Boening, 61, was behind the wheel of her car in Texas when her blood sugar levels became dangerously low. Tina Hardy, 32, whose husband also has type 1 diabetes, was working on the Burger King drive thru when Rebecca requested her order. Hearing her slurred speech and confusion over the intercom, Tina identified there was a problem and acted quickly. Reporting what had happened in her Facebook post, Rebecca said: "As I stumbled through placing my order I mentioned to the voice on the speaker that I was diabetic and in need of food. Low blood sugar makes it difficult to think or act. I pulled up to the first window in order to pay for my food. "I was shocked to see Burger King employee Tina Hardy running toward the front of my car. She squeezed between the front of my car and the building just to bring me a small serving of ice cream." Tina later explained, because of her husband also having the condition, she recognised the signs and knew it was important to ensure Rebecca was ok and did not need further assistance. Rebecca added: "She instructed me to park across the driveway so that she could keep an eye on me until I felt better. After eating I waited for a break in business so that I could return to Tina’s window." Once she started to feel better, Rebecca thanked Tina and told her manager about the kind gesture. Since posting her account of the story to her Facebook page, she has received more than 400,000 likes. The two women have remained in contact and speak everyday now and Rebecca has set up a fundraising page, asking people to donate towards buying Tina, a mother of three, a car. Experiencing low blood sugars is also known as hypoglycemia and can develop when a person with diabetes has not eaten enough food or taken too much insulin. Symptoms can include shaking, dizziness and a racing heartbeat. In order to treat low blood sugar levels, 15 to 20 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate must be consumed.

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[phdiabetic]

I'm glad there was someone there to help her but (1) why didn't she have any hypo treatments in the car (2) why did she keep driving while she was so low that she could barely speak and (3) ice cream is not suitable as a hypo treatment!

I once had a (mild, 3.9) hypo in a shoe store. The owner was very friendly and helpful, and so was the other employee working there who was an insulin dependent type 2. She offered me jelly beans and her own testing kit (although of course I had my own supplies with me) and they went above and beyond to make sure I was ok. They were aware of symptoms of hypos and the correct way to treat, which is unfortunately more than I can say for quite a few healthcare professionals.