FRANKLIN, Tenn. (WTVF) — A 5-year-old Franklin boy with Type 1 diabetes and his family are selling raffle tickets outside local businesses to help raise money for a diabetic alert dog.
Mason Reckles has been setting up outside businesses in Franklin alongside his parents, Jonathon and Suzie, with a simple pitch.
"Hi, do you want to buy a raffle ticket to help me get a diabetes dog," said Mason Reckles, a 5-year-old with Type 1 diabetes.
Mason currently wears devices on his arms that monitor his insulin and blood sugar around the clock.
When his numbers spike too high or drop too low, an alarm sounds — and every second counts.
"The nights scare me. I don't sleep because I'm afraid of missing an alarm. I'm afraid that he's going to go low, and I'm not going to be aware," said Suzie Reckles, Mason’s mom.
While the monitoring system is high-tech, Mason's parents said it has its drawbacks and a diabetic alert dog can detect a change in Mason’s blood sugar levels before his arm monitors do.
A diabetic alert dog would provide an added layer of protection.
"These dogs are trained; they go through at least two years of training. They're scent trained, where they can detect the smell of the change in the blood sugar," Suzie Reckles said.
Jon Foti with Breakthrough T1D explained how some of that training works, by using saliva from someone with Type 1 diabetes during times of both high and low sugar levels.
"So when their blood sugar's high, they'll take a sample of saliva and use that in a jar, and they'll train the dog to smell that and to alert based on smelling that, and then they reward them," said Jon Foti, Breakthrough T1D operations and outreach director.
Then trainers do the same thing with saliva for someone with low blood sugar to teach alerting that.
All that specialized training comes with a steep price tag.
"Between $20,000 and $30,000 , some can go up to $40,000,” said Jonathon Reckles, Mason’s dad.
The Reckles family said their insurance does not cover this cost, and the wait to receive a dog is lengthy; in fact the dog they are hoping to get hasn’t even been born yet.
"We have a deposit down on a future puppy," Suzie Reckles said.
To help raise the money, local businesses in Franklin have donated items that the family will raffle off at the beginning of July.
There’s over $3000 worth of prizes, tickets are $10 each or 12 for $100.
Click here for a list of the items you can win in the raffle.
The raffle is set to be held at the beginning of July.
The Reckles family plan to set up their raffle table again on June 13, 2026 at McEwen Northside in Franklin, near 4031 Aspen Grove Drive.
This story was reported on-air by Robb Coles and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Coles verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel.com.
Here’s a story offering a great example of how a common cause, and a little creativity, can “intersect” to improve quality of life. Our South Nashville reporter Patsy Montesinos shares how some neighbors decided to take action, following the tragic death of a 77-year-old in a hit-and-run along Antioch Pike earlier this year. See how they used “tactical urbanism” to make the area a little safer for all.
- Rhori Johnston
