WHEN Stella the cockapoo began gently pawing at Diane Ellingham’s chest, she set in motion a chain of events that saved her owner’s life.
The eight-year-old pooch’s “out of character” behaviour prompted Diane, 60, to take note of changes in her left breast and make an appointment with her doctor.
After tests, medics discovered she had cancer at the exact spot where Stella had been tapping.
Now the heroic hound has been named The Sun on Sunday’s Super Dog, beating hundreds of other pets who have made an extraordinary difference to their owners’ lives.
When told that Stella had scooped the title, Diane, from Birmingham, cried with emotion as she said: “Thank you, this means more to me than you could ever know.
“What makes Stella a Super Dog to me is that if she hadn’t alerted me, I wouldn’t be here. I owe her my life.
“She kept patting her paw on my left breast, which was totally out of character. I realised she was trying to tell me something, so I contacted my doctor.
“She’s proof a dog really is man and woman’s best friend.”
Judges including TV’s Dogfather Graeme Hall, who recently marked his 100th episode of Dogs Behaving (Very) Badly, scoured mountains of entries to find our worthy winner.
Graeme said: “Stella and Diane’s story touched my heart. It’s truly astonishing what dogs can do and the bond that forms between a dog and their person.”
Diane, married to retired town planner Paul, 57, got Stella in August 2017 as her sons Zac and Charlie were growing up and attending college.
The former headteacher, then working at a special educational needs school in the city, said: “It literally was on the spur of the moment. She definitely chose us.”
A year later, Diane started suffering from chronic back pain, recalling: “In Christmas 2018, even though I was seeing a chiropractor, it got so bad I couldn’t stand on occasions.
“Stella would sit with me and kept pushing and putting her paw onto my left breast. I didn’t realise the significance at the start.”
But four months later, Diane found a lump. She said: “I thought, ‘That’s strange, as that’s where Stella has been pressing me’.
“I’d heard about dogs being able to detect illnesses, including cancer, due to their incredible sense of smell. It was at that moment I had a strong feeling that she had sensed something was wrong.
“Later that day, I developed a large dark bruise. I knew I had to contact my doctor.”
Diane’s GP referred her to the breast cancer centre at Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham, where she had a mammogram, biopsy and ultrasound.
She said: “The lump had been caused by Stella pressing on my breast.
“But crucially, behind the lump and bruising, they found that I had lobular cancer, which can be difficult to detect. It was only because I’d bruised and got a lump from Stella that I got it checked out.
“I’d had my regular mammogram — including one two years before.
“I am in absolutely no doubt that Stella had been trying to warn me.”
Diane had a lumpectomy followed by lymph node removal that August.
But a routine CT scan revealed the cancer had spread to her spine, which was the cause of her pain.
She said: “Because of Stella, I was able to start targeted therapy, which halted the spread. I have also been helped by an amazing charity called Make 2nds Count. Stella has given me nearly seven years of quality life so far . . . and I am hoping for many, many more. She’s my superhero.”
Diane, who retired on medical grounds, is now looking forward to her £3,000 of prizes, which include a week’s holiday at Norfolk’s luxury East Ruston Cottages, a photoshoot and six months’ supply of pet food from tails.com, a Gtech System K9 cordless pet vacuum and a bundle of PetSafe toys and gadgets.
She said: “After surgery and radiotherapy, I started slow, gentle walks with Stella and my family.
“They gave me a purpose and space to reflect and realise how grateful I was to be alive.
“I don’t look ill, but part of that is because I get outside, so really Stella has saved me twice.”
Dr Claire Guest, co-founder and CEO of charity Medical Detection Dogs — which has trained pooches to sniff out diseases such as cancer and Parkinson’s — hailed these clever canines as “extraordinary”.
She added: “They can identify odour changes far beyond human capability, even at concentrations equivalent to a single drop in two Olympic-sized swimming pools.”
Oncology pathologist Dr Marios Anastasiadis told how, in experiments, dogs have also detected illnesses including lung and breast cancer by smelling patients’ breath.
Praising Diane’s beloved four-legged friend, he added: “Well done to Stella, who is a worthy Sun Super Dog winner.”
