The people of Arlington, Texas – including a former NFL star – rallied and came to the aid of a teenager with diabetes by hooking him up with a life-saving service dog.
Payton Stevens suffers from diabetes, so his family had to set alarms throughout the entire night to wake him and check his blood sugar. This is serious business because if his blood sugar falls too low while he's sleeping, he could slip into a coma.
But thanks to some generous donations from his community -- including former Dallas Cowboys tight end Jay Novacek -- he now has a new service dog, Grace, who will watch over him and keep him safe.
Training service dogs is very expensive, so Payton's classmates at Grace Prep in Arlington got together and held a dance-a-thon to help raise more than $35,000 to help him get one. It turns out Novacek breeds service dogs at his ranch. When he heard about Payton and what his classmates were doing, he and his wife decided to donate a dog. Now--Payton has Grace!!
Over the next year, Grace will be trained to smell if Payton's blood sugar levels get too low. Even better, Grace will give Payton's parents peace of mind when he goes off to college in a few years.