Dog biting off diabetic mans toe may have saved his life

Fri, 06 Aug 2010
A man from Michigan in the US has admitted that he is grateful to his dog for chewing off most of his big right toe while he was drunk. Jerry Douthett says the dog’s late night snack made him realise that he had an undiagnosed diabetic condition . It led to his treatment, and perhaps saved his life in the process.

Douthett had been aware that he had problems with his foot, and may have diabetes, but he had resisted going for a check-up. However, before going for treatment, he had a night on the tiles, passing out drunk when he got home. He woke up later to find his terrier beside him on the bed, lots of blood and most of his toe missing.

He was rushed to hospital, where doctors found a bone infection and amputated what was left of his toe. Douthett didn’t know the toe was so badly infected, and that he was in the advanced stages of type 2 diabetes . If it was not for his dog, Kiko, he may have ended up dying. Doctors said he had been living with type 2 diabetes for quite a while, and that his blood sugar levels were dangerously high, five times that of a normal person.

His wife, Rosie, said "Jerry had had all these margaritas, so I just let him sleep. But then I heard these screams coming from the bedroom, and he was yelling, "my toe’s gone, my toe’s gone!"

The story of Jerry Douthett’s toe has now gone global, and he has become somewhat of a celebrity, appearing on TV and radio news. He now sleeps in his shoes.

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