A walking miracle, Thomas Eddison, popularly known as Eddie, is lucky enough to be alive. He was found next to a railway line in Zeerust, in the North West, abandoned with severe injuries to his body as well as front right and left back legs.

A Good Samaritan found the severely injured dog and took him to a local veterinarian, who amputated both his legs because they were rotten after not getting medical attention on time.

“We got Eddie last year, in the middle of the year. A person brought him in. His back and front legs were totally crushed and rotten off and everything. He was found next to the rail road next to Groot Marico and miraculously, he survived the operation of two amputations and everything. About two day later, with anaesthetic worn out. He woke up. Miraculously, like 10 days later, he started walking on his own,” says a surgeon at the Avontuur Veterinary Services, Dr Lizahn Van den Brink.

Van den Brink’s animal clinic managed to raise funds and has now bought a prosthetic leg for Eddie to help with his mobility.

“The whole prosthetic is gonna go around his body. He is going to have a little stump, and a shock mechanism at the bottom, to try and absorb the shock as he walks. So, that will give him more balance as well.”

Dr Van den Brink is urging dog owners to take good care of their pets.

“To try and prevent it from getting illnesses and all of that, is to make sure that it’s properly vaccinated. So, a five-in-one vaccine and a rabbis vaccine, at least three times when it’s a puppy, and two times, when it’s an adult dog. The second thing is to spay and neuter your dog, so that it won’t go around searching for other dogs and all of that. It will stay in your yard and it will also be easier to handle the dog, and all of that,” Van den Brink advises.

Eddie’s initial owner could not be traced, but he’s now living with his adopted owners.