Beloved dog clung to life by the side of South Shields woman until her baby was born

Lauren Davis’ has revealed the bravery of her late pet Ellie who died in 2020 but held on until Lauren’s little boy Jesse-James Taylor came into the world.

The adorable Staffie finally let go after a battle with diabetes, two months after Jesse’s arrival.

Now Lauren has paid tribute to her dog in a new book called Ellie which is due out in early 2023.

Lauren, 29, was only 10 years old when she was diagnosed with scoliosis. The condition was so severe, medics warned she would need to undergo an operation within days if she was to have any chance of surviving.

She went on to have a further six operations, including one on her stomach, in a bid to make life more bearable.

Lauren was told she would never carry a baby because of all the ‘metal work’ she’d had on her spine.

The day a miracle happened

But then came the sixth bout of surgery to re-curve her spine and, afterwards, she was told she could finally carry a baby.

Her son Jesse-James was born after a pregnancy in which Lauren had 10 scans before giving birth by Cesarean section at the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle.

Lauren said: “I got Ellie at five months old and had her until she was eight years old. When I fell pregnant in 2019 she developed diabetes.

"All was going well, I was giving her her insulin every day, she was coping well. Then she started going blind, going very faint all the time. She held on until my boy was born just as Covid hit.

"She just wasn’t putting on weight after the last few months of the diabetes, from the April to the May, so not long after Jesse was born in March. I really do think she held on. She would always be by my side. She was a dream.”

Heartbreak as Ellie dies

Lauren will never forget the day they had to let Ellie go.

"She was blind from the diabetes and couldn’t see. She tried following us out of the foyer as she could hear the door go

"Ten minutes later they came out with her paw print on a piece of paper and her hair in a vial. I have that paw print on my wrist I used to walk her on with the lead . The hair is in a Pandora bead I carry around on a bracelet.”

Now Lauren has paid tribute to Ellie in the new book and explained: “‘Ellie is about a dog at a shelter and her experience with abandonment, anxiety, depression and happiness.

“I am working alongside the Newcastle dog and cat shelter in Benton to do this next one and will be donating 10% for every sale to their amazing charity which is where I got my Ellie from all those years ago.”

Lauren’s first book was called The Scoliosaurus – based on her life with a curvature of the spine. Her second, The Rainbow Snail, was about a snail with autism.

Now comes Ellie which will cost £8 and will be released in the Spring.