A death-defying cocker spaniel who survived a 60ft fall from a Highland dam has been nominated for a pet award.
Two-year-old Darcy suffered horrific injuries when she jumped over a wall and fell at Glascarnoch Dam between Inverness and Ullapool in July this year.
The working dog suffered several broken bones, a collapsed lung, damaged liver and a ruptured spleen – which later had to be removed by a vet.
But despite her injuries Darcy has pulled through – and owners Wendy and Gordon Lyon have now entered her into the Pet Survivor 2016 awards run by animal charity PDSA.
The Lyons were heading north from their home near Dundee for a holiday at Lochinver when they stopped at the dam to allow Darcy to stretch her legs.
Inexplicably, the spaniel jumped over a low wall and disappeared down the dam.
Mrs Lyon said: “We were absolutely distraught as we couldn’t reach her. It took a while for the fire brigade to arrive as we were in the middle of nowhere.
“When the fireman brought her up, hypothermia was setting in and she was slipping in and out of consciousness, but she still managed to nuzzle his cheek.”
Darcy was rushed to the nearest vets in Conon Bridge for emergency surgery to stop internal bleeding and she needed an operation to remove her damaged spleen.
She survived the night and was transported on a drip to Parkside Veterinary Group in Dundee for specialist care.
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 Darcy was a little dog with immense determination so we knew we had to try everything we could.”
The team were able to save Darcy’s leg by removing the ball of her hip joint before stabilising her femur with a plate fixed in place with nine screws.
Darcy had a further two operations – one to fix her front leg and another to remove the pin from her back leg once it was sufficiently healed.
At home Darcy has required months of rehabilitation including hydrotherapy, physiotherapy and acupuncture.
Mrs Lyon added: “Darcy had extraordinary care from her vets, they really went above and beyond for her.
“The treatment has cost thousands of pounds, thankfully her insurance has covered a lot of that although we have still had to pay for some parts of her rehab. It’s been an expensive time, but when I see her happy and running again it’s totally worth it.”
