On March 24, 2023, 19-year-old vet student Melody Chan woke up from a house fire after her dog licked her face and pulled her jumper.
Moments before the incident, Melody was cooking scrambled eggs and left the kitchen to get her medication.
But she collapsed right before she reaches for her insulin, leading the kitchen to catch fire.
Melody suffers from a rare heart condition and low blood sugar, causing her to pass out — sometimes up to 9 times a day.
The kitchen quickly went into flames as she lays unconscious in the living room.
Luckily, her one-year-old German Shepherd pup — Mia — bolted onto the scene and saw Melody lying helpless on the sofa.
Seeing the kitchen filled with thick, black smoke, Mia immediately tried to wake Melody up by licking her face and tugging her jumper.
“I can’t thank my dog enough. I hate to think what might have happened to me if she wasn’t there to wake me and alert me about the fire,” she said.
Melody bought Mia a year ago as a service dog.
“Before I had Mia, I was scared to leave the house in case I fainted or had a panic attack or my sugar levels got really low,” she recalled.
Mia has been trained to detect Melody’s scent and track her heart rate and blood sugar level.
The German Shepherd pup also knows how to put pressure on Melody’s body to lower her heart rate and tells her to sit down if she’s about to faint.
“Mia is the happiest dog I know and she loves going on walks,” says Melody.
“Mia has also been nominated for the assistant dog of the year award for Animal Stars,” the proud owner adds.
