Burnley mum thanks both the community and Animal Trust for helping to save her autistic daughter's therapy puppy

The Express reported earlier this month that husband and wife Lorna and Jonathan Crossley were urgently fundraising £1,346 for their five-month-old Cavapoo, Dylan, to have open heart surgery.

The puppy was going into heart failure after being diagnosed with a congenital heart condition, with vets warning the family that he did not have long left to live without immediate treatment.

The family could neither obtain insurance to cover such a major diagnosis, nor afford to pay for the operation on their own. The community however pitched in to raise the funds needed for Dylan to have life-saving surgery through not-for-profit vets Animal Trust on Monday, after Lorna’s friend Louise set up a Go Fund Me page.

Thanking everyone who helped to make the surgery a reality, mum-of-one Lorna said: “I’m so happy and relieved. It’s an absolutely wonderful feeling. It means the world to me as I never expected there to be a way out of this.

“I absolutely can’t believe it – I’m just overwhelmed. Every time someone donated my jaw dropped. All the comments and support from friends and family, and people who don’t know us giving us money – it was just incredible. If it wasn’t for them, Dylan wouldn’t be here.

"I could see him getting physically more lethargic and it was awful.”

But, she added: “The surgery went really well and I’m so proud of Dylan. I was so relieved. The vets said he was quite bright after the operation, which made me smile.”

Dylan was bought by the couple to help their six-year-old autistic daughter Lola regulate her emotions and feel calmer when overwhelmed.

Lorna added: “I can now enjoy taking Dylan to the park without worrying it it’s going to be the last time. I don’t have to worry about how losing him might break Lola.

"I just want to say thank you so much to everyone who has shown such generosity. Thank you for the support. It’s so, so kind. I can’t believe how many people reached out. Everyone has got such big hearts.”