Emma Brussell's longtime dream of owning a diabetic alert dog finally came true last year. Now, the Farmingdale 10-year-old is helping a Louisiana girl get one of the highly trained dogs, too.
"This is something she wanted to do even before she got Rufus," said Kelly Brussell, Emma's mother. The yellow English Labrador retriever received months of training to use its sense of smell to alert Emma when her blood sugar levels are high or low; the dog cost $15,000.
"That same day that we got the money we needed to buy her dog, Emma told me, 'I want to keep going (with fundraising) ... to help other kids get their dogs,' " Brussell said.
