BROUGHT TO HEAL Death row dog sniffs out Bob’s breast cancer
A LONELY dog who was rescued from death row went on to save his new owner’s life.
Abandoned Henri was due to be put down when Bob and Sharron Lambert adopted him at the 11th hour.
The rescue dog later alerted Bob, 66, to his breast cancer lump by repeatedly pawing his chest.
Sharron, 56, said: “Henri is our hero. He detected the cancer. It’s why he was persistent. He was trying to tell us.”
What is more remarkable is Bob did not want a dog. It was Sharron who visited a shelter and fell for the big eyes of the bull mastiff/great dane cross.
She said: “My heart melted. Even more so when I heard he was on death row. He’d been there so long. If no one took him soon he’d be put down.”
Sharron brought him home but says Bob was not happy for a fortnight.
She said: “Although Henri is massive, he’s so well-behaved. He didn’t put a paw wrong. He’s such a loving dog so Bob soon softened and adored him.”
And that bond turned out to be a lifesaving one. Sharron said: “While OUR vet Brian Faulkner, from Petplan, has 16 years of experience and is a freelance working all over the country. Send your questions to Brian at: Petplan, Great West House, Great West Road, Brentford, Middlesex, TW8 9DX or via Petplan’s Facebook page facebook.com/ PetplanUK. playing, Henri would jump up and paw and nudge at Bob’s chest. As the weeks went by I noticed he would always paw his right side.
“One night he kept pawing the right side of Bob’s chest so persistently that the following morning Bob woke in agony. ‘It really hurts where Henri was pawing me,’ he moaned. Then he clutched the right side of his chest.”
The dad of two discovered a pea-size lump behind his nipple. He was sent for a biopsy and two weeks later was told he had breast cancer. Only 350 men are diagnosed every year – the survival rate is not as good as it is for women as it is often found too late.
It was on the cusp of spreading but surgeons managed to remove it.
Sharron, from Southend- on- Sea, Essex, said “Looking back, when I cut my ankle Henri also sat on that side of me for a whole week until it healed.
“It is incredible. Bob has eaten his words about not wanting a dog. If it wasn’t for Henri, we probably wouldn’t have known until too late.
“As it is, we saved Henri and he saved Bob right back.” CAN I feed my dog human food? He is always trying to eat off our plates. Could he eat our leftovers if we take out bones or sharp pieces of food?
Survival