Lola

Three-year-old dog, Lola, faced a life-and-death situation when she was badly injured in a tragic road traffic accident.  

German Shepherd, Lola, was seriously injured after she jumped her garden fence and ran into the road. Her owner, Georgina (from Middlesborough), ran after her, but sadly, Lola was hit twice by the same car and the driver didn’t stop.  

“My kids and Lola were playing in our front garden. Since we have a tall fence, I’ve never had to worry about their safety before.” explains Georgina. “Lola has never managed to jump over it, until this day. But thankfully, I saw her escape and chased after her with no shoes on.  

“I almost caught her, but she must’ve thought it was a game and darted across the main road. I saw the car hit her. It was devastating.”  

Not worrying about herself, Georgina dived to save Lola, “Adrenaline kicked in and I didn’t think about myself - I just wanted to protect Lola. I could’ve got seriously injured myself, but my dog was in trouble. By the time the car hit her for the second time, I was next to her on the floor.  

“The car drove off and Lola was left in a heap on the road, yelping and crying in pain. I didn’t know what to do. My partner, Lewis, heard the commotion and ran out to help.”  

Caught up in the moment, Georgina didn’t realise that she’d injured her own hand when she dived on the ground to Lola.  

“Lewis wanted to get me checked over but I needed to get Lola seen to right away.  

Somehow, she managed to pick herself up and run back to the house to my daughter,  

Tiana,” explains Georgina. “Lola and Tiana have an unbreakable bond, so I can only assume Lola wanted comfort from Tiana.”  

After a kind neighbour quickly bandaged up Georgina’s injured hand, she wrapped Lola in blankets, carefully put her in the car, and rushed her to Middlesbrough PDSA Pet Hospital.  

When they arrived, she ran up to the front desk and asked for help. The reception team jumped into action and carefully helped Georgina bring Lola into the hospital.  

“I was shaking and thinking that she was going to die – it was horrific,” says Georgina. “We carried her into the hospital and that was the last I saw of her until the next day. I was terrified that she wasn’t going to make it.”  

PDSA Vet, Gabrielle Fish, said: “Lola was shivering, shaking and she couldn’t bear weight on her right back leg. She also had lots of nasty cuts and grazes all over her body.”  

Lola was admitted and given pain relief immediately to make her more comfortable. As internal bleeding is common with RTAs (road traffic accidents), vets were concerned that her injuries would be life-threatening. Thankfully, her ultrasound revealed that she had no internal bleeding. Once Lola was more stable, she was then taken for x-rays.  

“Her x-rays showed that her right femur (in her back leg) was broken in multiple places and her left hip had a minor fracture,” says Gabrielle. “We spoke with Lola’s owner, Georgina, and agreed the best course of action was to amputate her broken leg.”  

Lola’s operation went well, and she gradually made progress in her recovery.  Once the team were happy, she was able to go home to her family with pain relief, antibiotics and strict instructions for cage rest to allow the hip fracture to heal.  

PDSA Vet, Gabrielle Fish, added: “There was a risk that Lola’s hip fracture wouldn’t heal and she would need further surgery at an orthopaedic specialist, but the cage rest did the job and we’re so pleased she’s made a full recovery.”  

“Lola means the absolutely world to my family; she’s our little princess and we wouldn’t change her for the world,” explains Georgina. “I don’t know what I would’ve done without PDSA - we had nowhere else to turn. While the team at PDSA were busy treating Lola’s injuries, we were lost without her at home – she's part of our family.  

“My 15-year-old daughter, Tiana, struggles with her mental health. I used to have difficulty getting her out of bed in the mornings before we welcomed Lola into our family. But now, Tiana has a reason to get up. They have a very close blond and go out for walks together every day. Lola has helped everyone in our family but especially Tiana.”  

Since being discharged from PDSA, Lola is adapting to life on three legs but is happily back by Tiana’s side.  

Georgina continued, “Thank you PDSA. You’ve been there for me, Lola and my family. We’re so grateful that you saved Lola’s life, and during the heartbreaking time when Lola was injured, constantly reassured us that she was safe and being looked after. If I could give you a thousand pounds, I would.”  

Total cost of Lola’s treatment: £888.62  

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