Surgery horse rises from ashes (From The Northern Echo)

Surgery horse rises from ashes

6:13pm Tuesday 16th March 2010 in

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A WOODEN rocking horse beloved by patients at a doctors’ surgery miraculously survived an arson attack that destroyed the building.

Adan House Surgery, in Spennymoor, will need to be rebuilt after two boys started the devastating blaze on Saturday March 6.

The town was shocked by the fire at the surgery which serves 10,000 patients and will take at least nine months to rebuild.

But staff found a bit of good news this week when they were able to get onsite and discovered a rocking horse that stood in the reception area for more than two decades had survived.

The horse was made by retired partner, Dr Andrew Sanderson, for his own children and when they outgrew the toy he moved it to the surgery in around 1987 when the building opened.

Practice manager, Tracey Martin, said: "It seems a generation of patients were really attached to it, it squeaks a lot but entertained a lot of children in the waiting room over the years."

Such was the affection for the horse that around 400 people who feared the horse had been destroyed had joined a group on social network Facebook to replace it.

Mrs Martin added: "I was quite amazed at the response and when we realised it was virtually unscathed it provided one of the few smiles we had in the last week or so.

"It looks like it will clean up fine and will certainly go back into the new surgery when it is built."