A former soldier injured on exercise in the Falklands has got her working life back thanks to an English Springer Spaniel.

At the age of 18 Natasha Lees had a place at Sandhurst and a promising career in the army lined up.

But an injury to her spine while on military exercise in the Falklands put a stop to that.

For many years Natasha, now 37, struggled to lead a normal, active life as constant back pain, other related physical and mental health problems and regular surgery made working a major challenge.

That was until English Springer Spaniel Giles came into her life as her disability assistance dog trained by Support Dogs.

Now Natasha, of Mansfield Woodhouse, credits the devoted and hard-working dog with enabling her to once again lead a fulfilling professional life working for the NHS as a programme management office operations manager in Mansfield and Ashfield Clinical Commissioning Group.

“I have degenerative disc disease after injuring my back while on military exercise in the Falklands 18 years ago, when I was an 18-year-old Army reservist,” she explained.

“It stopped me becoming a full-time soldier. I had a place at Sandhurst and a career path mapped out but the injury put a stop to that.

“Since then I have been under the care of a spinal consultant and it’s got worse over the years.

“I also have balance problems due to hypermobility in my ankles, which is aggravated by the spinal injury, and have had ligament reconstruction to try and stop me falling over so much.”

Natasha had regular epidurals, disc blocks and spinal operations, including spinal decompression and spinal fusion surgery.

“My mobility is incredibly variable, I can walk sometimes but not others,” she added.

“On bad days I get by with a walking stick and a huge amount of painkillers but I have been in the position where I rely on a mobility scooter or can need a wheelchair post-surgery.

“I was living on my own getting really stressed and not being able to do anything, worried about something happening, and had no day-to-day support around me. So I went out and got a rescue dog, a one year-old, as a pet.”

Enter Giles, a “soft and fluffy, very gentle friendly sausage who loves cuddles”.

The intelligent English Springer Spaniel had already shown great promise training with Natasha in dog training classes, but importantly quickly took to training with Support Dogs’ as a disability assistance dog.

“I was blown away by how the trainers and instructors moved Giles on, and the things they been able to teach him,” said Natalie.

“I had only seen basic dog training before, but they have been able to bring something out of Giles to turn him into a really special dog.”

Natasha struggles to bend down and pick things up, so doing that for her is one of Giles’ biggest priorities. He’s also trained to find Natasha’s phone in the house so if anything happens she can call for help. He opens and closes doors, loads and unloads the washing machine, fetches the post – and even tidies up after himself.

“As I live alone, Giles being able to find my phone if anything happens to me is amazing, but he also gave me the confidence to start going out and about again as he is trained to fetch help if I fall over when I’m out, so that’s a really important safety aspect,” added Natasha.

“Until lockdown Giles came to work with me every day and everyone in the office loves him.

“He’s the office celebrity who is always up for a belly rub but I had to watch he doesn’t get too many snacks.

“My health has worsened over the last few years to a point where I have needed more and more medical support and I genuinely believe the reason I stayed in work since moving to Nottinghamshire, despite all the surgery, mental and physical health issues is Giles.

“Support Dogs has been a positive experience — they are so good at supporting us in every way, tailoring the training to what we need, rather than being a one-size-fits-all charity.

“Giles is my favourite thing and I love him to bits. Support Dogs have transformed him from a pet into an asset.”

To find out more about Support Dogs go to www.supportdogs.org.uk