Iowa - College student Gabi Riessen suffers from a heart condition and therefore must have a service dog at her side. That's where Winnie the Golden Retriever comes in!

Winnie the dog has been Gabi's loyal companion for around two years.

The young woman studies at the University of Northern Iowa (UNI) where she plays in a marching band that runs around the football field making music.

Because Gabi's heart often beats too fast, the student is threatened with fainting without warning.

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Luckily, Winnie is there to sound the alarm in an emergency.

Thanks to years of training, the four-legged friend has developed the ability to sense when the student is in medical trouble.

So when her owner gets the university team Northern Iowa Panthers in the mood on the football pitch in front of thousands of fans, the Golden can save her human from medical distress in time.

"Winnie has made it where I can be like a normal person again," Gabi said in a UNI report.

"I can do band, because she'll let me know if I'm okay, and I can go to my classes. Before her, we didn't know if college was going to be an option."

Before Gabi started studying at Northern Iowa, she had a difficult time at a private school where she was excluded from many activities because of her dog.

Now, thanks to Winnie, the student has become a national star with the media reporting on the duo!

"I’m part of the marching band, so that means she is, too," Gabi told KCRG News.

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Band director Justin Mertz explained that anyone can achieve anything, regardless of whether they have a disability or not.

"I’m a music educator, and we believe that music is for everyone," he said.

Gabi is grateful for the support: "I'm not gonna lie, I cried after the first couple days of being here, because I've never felt so welcomed before."