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Bionic spine gives Chris Evans's dog a pain-free future
Last updated at 09:04am on 16.06.08
When vets told Chris Evans his beloved dog should be 'written off' after losing the feeling in its hind legs, the radio DJ refused to give up hope.
Enzo the German Shepherd had two herniated discs in his spine, leaving him paralysed and in pain.
His 42-year-old owner made sure he received the latest treatment - and now Enzo has a bionic spine.
New life: Chris Evans's dog Enzo has regained the use of its back legs again
In a pioneering operation costing £5,000, the nine-year-old dog had two bolts inserted in the middle of his spine to fuse two vertebrae.
The SpondyloFitz bolts - named after inventor Noel Fitzpatrick, the vet who performed the surgery on Enzo last month - have cured his pain and will stay in permanently.
The dog is having extensive physiotherapy and hydrotherapy in the hope that he can one day learn to walk again.
Evans told Dogs Today magazine: 'It was make or break. The procedure was potentially a highly dangerous one and one that to Noel's knowledge had never been carried out before.
'We're giving this our very best shot. Enzo's worth it. So long as he keeps making progress we'll keep trying.
'Without this latest operation we had no hope, now we have a glimmer. But we have to be realistic. It's his last chance.'
Enzo is now resident at the Fitzpatrick-Referrals animal hospital in Referrals animal hospital in Surrey.
Before his operation he was completely paralysed but now he can use his back legs in the pool - although he is yet to support himself on land.
He is having four physiotherapy and hydrotherapy sessions a day to build up the muscles in his hind legs. Mr Fitzpatrick said: 'Chris's dog is a very difficult case and we may not be successful. He has a particularly bad form of spinal disease.
'At the moment we don't know if Enzo will ever walk again.
'He has a condition whereby several discs in his back dried out and over a period of time squashed his spinal cord.
'The nerves are inside the spinal cord and the bolts relieve the pressure on it. They fuse the vertebrae together. It is pain-free and the spinal cord can start to conduct again.
'The bolt pushes the vertebrae apart and relieves the sciatic nerve. The thing that will decide whether Enzo will walk again is whether the damage to the cord is permanent.'
