In 1981 I met and fell in love with my first " Charlie", a little black & tan, and I have had Charlie's ever since!  Lucy, my King Charles Spaniel, is a much loved and very loving ruby bitch who is now rising three years old.  This is her remarkable story.
Last summer, after a traumatic move from Wales, we eventually managed to leave the decorating and have our first day out.  My Mother, Lucy and Polly (who's a Blenhiem Cavalier) took a picnic, planning to explore some of our new area.  At Lunchtime we arrived at a lovely National Trust woodland about 20 miles from home.  The 2 " Girls" were very excited and somehow, minutes after our arrival, Lucy fell awkwardly.  Just momentarily, I thought she'd broken her leg, but almost immediately realised that she'd hurt her neck.  The National Trust warden kindly rang his vet and led us down to the local surgery - we were there within 10 - 15 minutes of Lucy falling.  To my surprise the vet thought it wasn't serious, but suggested that he kept her there for the afternoon to rest for two to three hours.  We had our picnic and walk and collected her later.  I was alarmed when I saw Lucy again, but was reassured by the vet.  He told me about an excellent vet in Wokingham, about four miles from home, and I soon became very grateful for this information as I had not been happy with the new vet, whom I had gone to since moving to the area.
Lucy seemed so ill when we got home and by the following morning I was really alarmed as she couldn't even lift her head, let alone walk.  I rang this new vet (whom I'd never met) and took Lucy straight there.  They were so kind and kept her to do neurological tests and x rays, then rang me with the awful news - Lucy had broken her neck (an atlanto-axial subluxation).  The vet told me it was outside the skill of any normal veterinary practice and that she needed specialist help at a spinal injuries unit - was I insured?  Thankfully the answer was "yes" !
He was able to get her an appointment in Birmingham  (Willows Referral Service in Shirley, Solihull) about 135 miles away!  As I collected her from Wokingham, his final words were, " If she were human, you'd need a specially equipped ambulance with medical staff on board, and a police escort for this journey. Good Luck because I'm afraid you won't make it!" - We did - but what a journey, I hope I'll never experience anything like it again!
In Birmingham they were fantastic - told me it was the same injury as Superman, Christopher Reeves (but we didn't know then if she had damaged her spinal cord or not) and that she had less than a 50% chance of surviving the operation, but that the vet felt she was worth giving that chance.  I was very anxious that she should not suffer more than was absolutely necessary.  The vet was very patient and gave me great deal of time (3/4 hour at least) before I gave the go ahead.
They wired the vertebrae together and took a piece of bone from her right shoulder and screwed it to the spine - the most delicate and fragile part of the procedure and the most likely to break down, I was told.  She did survive the surgery and we hand fed her, hand watered her, carried her out to the lawn and lay on the lawn with her to keep her company - for five weeks!  After two weeks, when I took her back to Birmingham to have the stitches out she was very lopsided and still couldn't sit, stand or walk. I had just read an article in a doggy magazine about hydrotherapy for dogs and asked the vet if I could take her.  He agreed; so twice a week, we drove the 65 mile round trip to Stokenchurch in Buckinghamshire, to Lynne Delamer's Hydrotherapy pool.  Five and a half weeks after the operation Lucy took her first steps!  She can now go for short walks, (she wears a harness - not a collar), she can stand at her dish to eat and drink, she still sings when I play the piano to her!  And she is gradually getting stronger.  To date she still can't (or won't) go up or down the two shallow steps to the lawn, but I carry her out and she runs around on her own and when she is ready to come in, she waits at the top of the steps to be lifted down!  She grooms Polly daily, washing her face, ears, neck and back! Polly loves it!  I'm told that she can go on improving for up to nine months from the injury - so she may well manage the steps on her own - if not we'll get them altered! 
Lucy is a very tiny Charlie, she only weighs nine pounds, but she's walking again, is active, happy and very loving, and we are so grateful for such excellent veterinary care and to have found a really good vet in Wokingham.

I hope you will share my joy at her miraculous recovery.

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