Pup that became soldier’s best friend

A FORMER soldier and a pup he saved from rubble in wartorn Syria have been reunited after seven months apart – but he says it was his furry companion that “saved his life”.

Sean Laidlaw, 30, was stationed in Syria in February 2018 as a private contractor leading a bomb disposal team when he found whimpering Barrie surrounded by debris after a school had exploded.

EXCLUSIVE

THERESA May has been urged to intervene to end the emotional hunger strike protest of Falklands War veteran Gus Hales.

The ex-paratrooper's MP Chris Davies has contacted the Prime Minister in a bid to bring the case to “a swift conclusion”.

Hopes of a breakthrough came as Gus, 62, endured a 10th day without food in a protest over the “disgraceful” lack of mental health care for ex-soldiers and the hounding of Northern Ireland veterans.

The married father says his comrades from the 1982 conflict in the South Atlantic and tours of duty in Ulster have been “betrayed”.

Weaknesses

Mr Davies, Tory MP for Brecon and Radnorshire, supports him but has asked him to end the fast over growing fears for his health.

Mr Davies, who has met with Veterans Minister Tobias Ellwood about Gus, said: “It is vital that the country does not just talk about supporting veterans, but actually does it.

“This case shows weaknesses in the system that must be fixed.”

Gus has endured freezing temperatures living in a tent outside the Audley Court treatment centre run by charity Combat Stress in Newport, Shropshire.

The former sergeant with 9 Parachute After parting in April Sean and his dog were reunited on Saturday at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris.

Sean, from Hornchurch, Essex, said: “Working in a war-zone, coming back to camp you sit in your room on your own. To have a companion, it kept my mind away from all the things I was seeing and doing. You can only imagine how bad Syria is, and to be able to train her for three hours and take her for a walk, things like that really took my mind away from where I was.

“She stayed with me all day. I'd wake up, she'd come eat with me, she'd sit in the passenger seat when we drove to Raqqa.”

Sean contacted War Paws, a charity based in Iraq which specialises in bringing dogs home from war-torn areas, to find a way to bring Barrie back with him.

Sean was prepared to fly to Jordan, where Barrie was quarantined, to collect her but War Paws owner Louise Hastie was able to take her to Paris.

Sean said: “It was pure joy when Barrie realised who I was. It was just great to have my dog again.”