Maisie walked for nearly four hours to raise money for PDSA, who helped save Rio's life.

Ten-year-old takes on fundraiser after charity vets saved family pet

A ten-year-old girl who suffers with scoliosis has raised £800 for pet charity PDSA after its veterinary teams performed emergency surgery on her family's Dalmatian.

Maisie from Wakefield, West Yorkshire walked ten miles accompanied by her family in order to raise vital funds for the charity. The challenge took the schoolgirl nearly four hours.

“We are so proud of Maisie and her incredible achievement,” said Maisie's mum, Leanne Proctor, “She decided to take this on herself after PDSA saved our dog’s life. She saw those long ten miles through and has raised an incredible amount to give back to PDSA for their amazing work.

“Maisie was diagnosed with scoliosis, a painful disorder which causes curvature of the spine, four years ago. She suffers with back pain on a daily basis which can make walking very uncomfortable. But she didn’t let that stop her and she carried on like a trooper.”

Maisie decided to take on the challenge after PDSA provided life-saving treatment for her family's dog Rio when he was found to have a urinary stone blocking his urethra.

Two-year-old Rio went through a complicated operation to unblock his bladder and allow him to urinate again. He was allowed back home after two days of intensive nursing care and, although he will need regular monitoring in the future, he is recovering well.

Mrs Proctor added: “We are all so incredibly grateful to the amazing PDSA vet teams for saving Rio – he means so much to all our family. There’s a big chance he wouldn’t be here now if it wasn’t for them so we really are thankful, especially during this already hugely challenging year.

“Maisie is so pleased that she’s been able to raise such a great amount already and we’ll continue to support the charity for the amazing work it does.”

Image (c) PDSA.