Grandmother who could die each time she sleeps thanks her lifesaving dog

A grandmother from Llangollen who could die every time she falls asleep says her beloved dog has saved her life on countless occasions.

Bernadetta (Nan) Henry, of Hall Street, Llangollen, suffers from a life-threatening condition called sleep apnoea which causes the airways to block and breathing to stop for about 10 seconds at a time.

But Nan’s trusty hearing dog Boris, a bichon frise, knows to rouse her when she stops breathing by putting his paws on her chest.



Nan, who can stop breathing two or three times a night, said: “Boris sleeps next to me and can just tell when I stop breathing.

“As soon as I stop he comes up to my chest and puts his paws on me. He means everything to me. If it wasn’t for him I would be dead.”

Nan became almost completely deaf following a blood clot in 1982. Since the death of her husband John five years ago, Nan has depended more on Boris and relies on him to alert her when the telephone and doorbell ring and when the cooker’s timer goes off. “I couldn’t live on my own without him and we both love each other,” she said.