A BELOVED family dog has had his life saved by a Basildon veterinary hospital after a ball became lodged deep in her throat. 

Elliot Harris, from Hockley, said he and his family feared the worst after their one-year-old Doberman, Hiro, swallowed a ball while playing.

Hiro was left chocking and struggling to breathe as it became lodged deep in her throat.

READ MORE >> Police make more arrests as boy seriously injured after Rayleigh stabbing

And the pooch was rushed to Southfields Veterinary Specialists, in Gardiners Lane South, where internal medicine specialist Jennifer Raj successfully removed the dangerous blockage.

A relieved and grateful Elliot said it was a traumatic time.

He said: “My daughter Eva was walking Hiro and she swallowed the ball of a much younger dog.

“She immediately brought her home and we took her to our local vet where they discovered a ball had become lodged deep in her oesophagus.

“Our vet was great but couldn’t perform the procedure she required, so referred us to Southfields.

“We were pretty concerned and knew she might not make it, especially as the potential procedure was not easy, but Hiro has recovered fully and is back to health and happy.

“We are very grateful, as we received top level care and attention at all stages.

Southfields is a fantastic facility with brilliant empathetic staff who gave us a clear understanding of the process throughout.”

Southfields Veterinary Specialists is a new £16 million state-of-the-art animal hospital that opened in August 2022.

Specialist Jennifer took charge of the case and described how challenging it was to get the ball out.

She said: “Hiro was referred as an emergency for management of an oesophageal foreign body.

“An X-ray confirmed the ball was lodged within the distal oesophagus, so we opted to try to remove it using forceps and endoscopic guidance under anaesthesia.

“It was challenging as the ball was difficult to grip due to its shape and as it was tightly lodged in the oesophagus. Thankfully, it was removed using this minimally invasive procedure.

“Everything went very smoothly, and Hiro made an excellent recovery.

“She was eating again the following morning, with gusto! It was lovely for all the team to send this sweet girl back to her loving family.”