Hero dog Charlie needs help with cancer fight
FUNDS are being raised for an heroic dog that helped save a man’s life - but is now battling a rare form of terminal caner.
Charlie, a 10-year-old Jack Russell from Cheadle Hulme, played a role in stopping the man from jumping off a motorway bridge.
But Charlie has now been diagnosed with prostate cancer and needs a second dose of interarterial chemotherapy, a revolutionary but expensive treatment.
He was given 12 months to live earlier this year but an initial dose of the treatment has seen his tumour shrink.
His owners, Caroline and Robert Cocker of Crossfield Road, have been given renewed hope and are now trying to raise £5,000 for further treatment.
Popular Charlie has also been shortlisted for the Asda Hero Dog 2017 award, which he will attend next month, for his role in helping prevent a man from jumping off Lancashire Hill Bridge above the M60.
Robert had been taking him for a walk and when the man showed an interest in Charlie, he was coaxed back to safety to stroke him until emergency services arrived.
Caroline, a training centre manager, said: “They got talking about Charlie and he wanted to stroke him, but to do that he had to climb over the other side of the railings. So many people love Charlie, he is not yappy or bitey he just goes round to people’s feet wanting his ear scratched. People then start chatting about him.
“He is such a lovely character, full of joy and loves life. He has not changed a bit despite his illness, he still bouncy, happy and hungry.”
After being diagnosed in March, Charlie was sent to vets at Fitzpatrick Referrals, in Guildford, where he underwent the chemotherapy.
A line was inserted into a neck artery and the treatment travelled to the prostate, so is highly targeted.
This is in addition to more general chemotherapy that is done intravenously through his leg and it has seen the tumour shrink and cancer retract from the bladder, where it had spread to.
Each dose is £2,500 and, having reached the end of insurance cover, the couple are now trying to raise £5,000 for two more doses.
Helping them are staff at their local pub the Chiverton Tap, on Mellor Road, where Charlie is well known and a collection is ongoing for him.
The form of cancer is malignant but accounts for less than 0.5 per cent of cancers in dogs
Caroline said: “Charlie is part of the family and we have had him since he was six weeks. He has been very unfortunate as the cancer is so rare. There is little research on it and the treatment is very experimental but has had a real effect.”
To donate and help Charlie visit www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/ chanceforcharliedog.