A dog who was left completely paralysed after a routine walk had his life saved after complex surgery by a County Durham vet.

Dexter, a five-year-old Lurcher, was rushed to Bradbury referral centre in Stockton with a broken and dislocated neck which had left him completely paralysed and struggling to breathe.

Specialists at Linnaeus-owned Wear Referrals operated late into the night to save the canine and repair his spine.

Meanwhile, it is believed he suffered life-threatening injuries after hitting a stationary object at speed, or tumbling head over heels, while out exercising on his daily walk.

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After a two-hour search, devastated owner Danielle MacGill, who lives in Morpeth and is also a vet, found Dexter, who had been left unable to move.

Speaking on the injury, surgery and recovery, she said: “It was a very long and stressful evening and I was so relieved when they called me to say Dexter had made it through the operation.

“He was allowed home after about a week, although at this stage he was not able to walk.

"It was a long, hard process but seeing him start to do things that I hadn’t been sure would ever be possible again was awe-inspiring.

“Dexter is now almost completely back to his old self and is living his best life. I honestly never thought we would get back to this stage but he has surprised me every step of the way with his determination and resilience.

“All the team at Wear have also been amazing and I am so grateful to them.”

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The highly complex and lengthy surgery at Wear to fix Dexter’s spine was led by the world-renowned Clare Rusbridge, senior neurologist and professor in veterinary neurology, and Francisco Silveira, a European specialist in small animal surgery.

The successful operation was followed by intense rehabilitation by Wear’s veterinary nursing team and the pup's owner

Speaking on the operation, Ms Rusbridge said: “Dexter had a serious spinal cord injury and it was a very complex, and rarely performed, surgery that went on late into the night.

“He was completely paralysed in all four limbs and his neck meaning he needed intensive care.

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"It was a real team effort to save his life and get him moving again, calling on the skills of our nursing team together with our neurology and orthopaedic experts.

“Very slowly function came back aided by an intensive physiotherapy routine. It’s fantastic to see his recovery has literally come on leaps and bounds and that he’s running again.”

Wear specialises in providing expert multidisciplinary care, including anaesthesia, cardiology, diagnostic imaging, intensive care, internal medicine, neurology, OOH emergency and critical care, oncology, orthopaedics and soft tissue.