Dundee dog shortlisted for survivor award
Darcy was on a walk in the Highlands when she jumped up a wall, but fell down a 60-foot dam.
A Dundee dog who survived a terrifying fall down a 60-foot dam has been shortlisted for the PDSA Pet Survivor Awards 2016. Two year-old Darcy, a cocker spaniel, was on a walk in the Highlands with her owners at Glascarnoch Dam in July when she suddenly jumped up a five-foot wall, only to plunge down the concrete slipway. Despite suffering horrific injuries, Darcy went on to make a full recovery and is now up against five other plucky pets for the title of PDSA Pet Survivor of the year. Darcy’s owners, Wendy and Gordon Lyon, put her forward for the award and have described the gut-wrenching moment she jumped. Wendy said: "We've walked there many times and she's never done anything like that before.
"We have no idea why she suddenly decided to jump.
"We heard her yelp, then silence and expected the worst as we ran to look over the wall.
"Incredibly, she survived the fall and was looking up at us but we could see that she was badly injured."
However, Darcy's ordeal was far from over; she was rushed to the nearest veterinary practise in Conon Bridge for emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding and needed an operation to remove her damaged spleen.
Despite her critical condition, she survived the night and was transported to Parkside Veterinary Group in Dundee for intensive care and specialist surgery.
She had a devastating list of injuries- with air leaking into her chest cavity, a damaged liver, fractured pelvis and a broken back leg and hip joint.
Orthopaedic Vet, Stuart Ashworth said: “At first we were worried we may not be able to save Darcy’s back leg- her femur was shattered into five sections and her hip was also fractured, all complicated by the fact this was an open wound, which increased the risk of infection.
“But we could see that she was a little dog with immense determination so we knew we had to try everything we could.”
The vet team were able to save Darcy’s back leg and just 48 hours after the operation, she was standing up, wagging her tail.
Wendy added: “She stayed at the vets for nine days recovering, but we visited her twice a day and her tail was always wagging- she never once gave up.”
“It’s been an expensive time, but when I see her happy and running again, it makes it all worth it.”
The winner will be decided by a public vote via the charity’s website- www.psda.org.uk/petsurvivor.