Billy the dog comes to the rescue!

After falling out of her wheelchair and knocking herself unconscious in her back garden, Carol, 45, says she can’t thank the Progress Lifeline team and her assistance dog Billy enough for saving her.

Carol, who lives in Fleetwood, has severe arthritis and spinal damage caused by falling off a horse and has mobility problems as a result. She also suffers from unexplained extreme fatigue and uses a wheelchair to get around.

“I was out in the garden when I started to struggle with my breathing and fell out of my wheelchair and hit my head. It was a very cold early morning in November so no one was really around and I wasn’t expecting any visitors. If it hadn’t been for the falls detector I was wearing, and my dog Billy, who had gone into the house to press my alarm, I don’t know what might have happened.”

Carol’s fall detector alerted our Control Centre at the time of the accident whilst clever Billy ran back inside and pushed the emergency alarm button that he had been trained to press if Carol needed help.

On the alarm being raised, our Control Centre staff sent out one of our Emergency Mobile Responders. On arrival, they located Carol and called for an ambulance.

Carol says: “I can’t thank everyone enough. It really is a lifeline for me, as I find it so reassuring knowing that if anything happens someone will be there.”