LAFAYETTE, Ind. – It took an article published on People Magazine’s website for Lafayette residents Sarah Trueb and Derek Douglass to get together.
But thanks to the story, and Douglass’ service dog, Rosco, the couple were able to connect and, as of June, become engaged.
In 2018, People Magazine’s website featured a story about Douglass and Rosco, highlighting how the golden retriever service dog assists his owner by helping him manage his seizures. Douglass, who was diagnosed with drug-resistant epilepsy in 1994, received Rosco in 2017 after the dog graduated from his training at Northern Indiana Service Dogs.
Douglass uses a method called Vagus Nerve Stimulation therapy (VNS) to help prevent his seizures. It works through an implant that sends regular, mild pulses of electrical energy to the brain via the vagus nerve, according to the Epilepsy Foundation. When the device detects a seizure, it sends a pulse to his brain.
Rosco is also specially trained to detect and help Douglass with his seizures. The service dog wears a medical device around his collar and can jump up and swipe the magnet around the device Douglass has to stop the seizures.
Rosco can also sense seizures before they occur. Dogs are also able to detect seizures through smell and can detect epileptic seizures up to 45 minutes before they occur, according to a study by Medical Mutts, a US-based organization that trains seizure alert dogs.
“Rosco is a go-to friend, and he’s always there,” Douglass said. “He doesn’t talk back if I’ve had a bad day, but he’s also there when I have bad days. He’s a pretty big shoulder for me to lean on.”
After Douglass’ story with People Magazine was published, it caught the attention of Trueb, who also lived in Lafayette.
At the time, Trueb was working as a medical massage therapist. She was diagnosed with partial complex seizures and drug resistant epilepsy in 1999 and had been doing her own personal research into alternative medicine and therapies to help treat her diagnosis. After looking into a service dog for VNS, she stumbled on Derek’s story and realized they both lived in Lafayette.
“I said, I’m going to reach out to him, and fingers crossed that he wasn’t a weirdo,” Trueb said.
Originally, Trueb said she was looking to learn more about Rosco and his role in Douglass’ life, and was considering forming a local group for people with epilepsy, but that took a temporary pause when the couple met in June 2019.
“In that moment, we became an instant family,” Trueb said. “I wasn’t expecting to fall in love with him.”
Douglass said that when his original story was published, he never expected to meet someone through the piece, much less someone living in Lafayette. He even used Rosco to officially ask Trueb out on a date.
“It’s pretty rare that two people in the same city with the same problem would meet through a magazine,” Douglass said.
And in June, the pair got engaged — rather unconventionally — as Trueb was the one to first propose to Douglass.
Douglass, who works at Purdue as an electronics technician, was testing emergency phones for the campus police department. To his surprise, when he picked up one phone for a routine test, it was Sarah’s voice on the other end, asking him to marry her.
“I thought it was the perfect way to ask, and he wasn’t expecting it,” Trueb said.
Eventually, Douglass also proposed to Trueb. The couple is planning to have a small wedding with family in 2021.
Of course, Rosco will be included in all current and future plans.
Douglass said the typical length for a service dog to work is around nine years, so eventually Rosco will retire and will be replaced by a successor.
But for now, his job is to assist Douglass, and he's loved by both Douglass and Trueb.
“He’s very much loved and spoiled between the two of us,” Trueb said.
Emily DeLetter is a news reporter for the Journal & Courier. Contact her at (765) 201-8515 or via email at edeletter@jconline.com. Follow her on Twitter at @EmilyDeLetter.
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September 06, 2020 at 06:00PM
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Lafayette couple connects, finds love through People Magazine story - Journal & Courier
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