WPBF - "First in Florida: Local girl gets service dog for nut allergy"

First in Florida: Local girl gets service dog for nut allergy

PALM BEACH, Fla. —The saying may claim that a dog is man’s best friend but try telling that to 10-year-old Isabella Lucarelli of Atlantis.

“He’s important to my life,” she said about her dog, Chase. “He is a lifesaver,” said Isabella’s mother, Erica. “And we named him Chase because he’s on the case.” He’s on the case of saving Isabella’s life.

Isabella has a potentially fatal allergy to nuts. “Means my throat could close up and if I don’t get the epinephrine into me on time then I could possibly die,” Isabella explained.

That’s why Chase is around. He’s the only service dog of his kind in Florida, one that is trained to keep someone away from nuts. He does that every day for Isabella. “If he smells any type of nut anywhere then he would alert me and tell me to stay away from that particular area,” Isabella said.

Chase, however, is expensive. The Lucarellis needed help. That’s where the local charity “Red Sneakers for Oakley” stepped in. READ MORE