Nine-year-old Skylar Bolton got a puppy, but really, she could have wished for anything. A visit with Johnny Depp, as her mom suggested. A trip to Disney World. Even a meeting with the U.S. president. But all she wanted was that dog. Skylar – whose wish was granted by the Rotary Club of Memphis Central, Tenn., USA, and the nonprofit Dream Factory – has type 1 diabetes, and she wished for a specially trained service dog that could help save her life someday.

“I actually tried to talk her out of it. How often do you get a once-in-a-lifetime dream granted?” says Skylar’s mom, Amanda Bolton. “I kept thinking we’d be able to save up money eventually for a dog. She said, ‘I would only see Johnny Depp for a couple of hours, but I would get to keep my dog forever.’ She would not waver.”

People with type 1 diabetes don’t produce insulin, a hormone that changes the glucose from the foods they eat into energy, so they must obtain it through injections or insulin pumps. But striking the correct balance is tough, particularly in children; if they don’t get enough insulin, glucose levels can skyrocket, and if they get too much (or eat too little), their blood sugar can become dangerously low. Skylar and her mom have to monitor her blood sugar levels constantly, and that means waking up several times every night.

That’s where a two-year-old black lab named Denali comes in. A trained diabetes service dog, Denali can use her powerful nose to sense changes in Skylar’s glucose levels. When they go too high or too low, Denali will alert Skylar – or Amanda, if Skylar doesn’t respond. “We call Denali our guardian angel,” Amanda says. Denali is rewarded with a treat whenever she detects blood sugar levels under 80 or over 250 milligrams per deciliter.

Skylar takes Denali almost everywhere, including school, and the dog wears a red vest when she’s working. When she’s off duty, Denali plays with Skylar’s siblings and the family’s other two dogs too.

The Memphis Central club connected with Skylar through the Dream Factory, which grants wishes to children with critical or chronic illnesses. The club chose Skylar and her dream from a list of requests and raised $3,000 to pay for it. It also introduced her to the Rotary Club of Concordia, Kan., which welcomed the family during their stay at the facility that trained Denali.

Bert Canfield, of the Memphis Central club, says his fellow Rotarians were overwhelmed by the impact of the project and plan to work with the Dream Factory to choose another recipient soon. “One of our members is the last recorded case of polio in Memphis,” Canfield says. “He came up and said, ‘This is the best thing I think we’ve ever done as a club.’ He was very moved by it.”