Rescue dog helped brain tumour fight
WHEN Deborah Tillett was told she had only five years to live – it was rescue pup Lacey who comforted her.
She was there for Deborah when she split from her husband six weeks before brain surgery.
Lacey was also constantly at her side after a tangerine-sized tumour had been removed and in the tough months of radiotherapy and recovery that followed.
Deborah, 40, who was diagnosed with a terminal brain tumour in 2014, said: “I don’t know where I’d be without Lacey. She’s my best friend, my partner in crime, my carer, my confidante and the only reason I get up in the morning some days.
“I wouldn’t have coped as well without her. She’s brought me so much joy and has been the most loving, supporting and wonderful companion through some of my darkest days.” This why Deborah is urging Sunday People readers to back our Help a Dog Christmas appeal, in association with Battersea Dogs & Cats Home’s In From The Cold Campaign.
Its aim is to give Battersea the funds they need to make sure dogs such as Lacey are cared for until they find a loving new home.
Lacey was just a 13-week-old Staffordshire bull terrier in 2010 when Deborah visited Battersea and adopted her.
Wonderful
She recalled: “I looked into a kennel and there was, this tiny, very skinny, very poorly looking ginger creature in the corner.
“I said hello and she trotted up to me, raised herself up on the bars of the kennel and licked my face. It was love at first sight.”
Lacey had been living in a small council flat with a family who had three teenage kids. When she caught parvovirus, a nasty illness that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. They could not cope.
Deborah spent lots of time with Lacey at Battersea, under the watchful eye of their staff, before she took the dog home. When Deborah was told she only had five years to live, Lacey was the one who sat with her head on her lap, comforting her as she cried.
Deborah said: “I wouldn’t have coped nearly as well without Lacey. Having a reason to get up, to feed the dog, kept me going.
“You make the effort to play ball in the garden because she needs it. I think some people will read that and think, we all do that for our kids, but I didn’t have children and I didn’t have a partner.
“So sometimes I got up because Lacey needed it, whereas I’d otherwise have lain in bed feeling sorry for myself.
“She was there for me every day. She’s my best mate, my constant companion. We go everywhere together. She makes me laugh every day. She’s a proper hillwalking, river-swimming, stickfetching, mud-rolling dog.”
This was supposed to be Deborah’s last year and she credits Lacey with keeping her going.
She said: “I’ll be feeling sad, then I hear click, click, click and Lacey appears with a stick in her mouth. It’s like she’s saying: ‘Come on mum, come and play – just for five minutes.’ It’s a reason to keep going.”
Deborah said Battersea’s facilities are exceptional but expensive to maintain.
She said: “I don’t know where I would be today without Battersea and my wonderful dog Lacey. I’ll always be grateful to them both.”
Battersea will always ensure that your gift goes wherever the need is greatest.
You can donate online at battersea.org.uk/ sundaypeople or call 020 7627 7883