A pup left paralysed after a spinal stroke has defied the odds and is now able to walk again without the help of a wheelchair.

Megan Donoghue, 23, was at home with her partner Jacob Beesley, 24, when they noticed that their five-year-old shweenie Maggie was shuffling awkwardly around the house.

The couple immediately took her to the vet who suggested Maggie may have suffered from a strain and sent her home.

Hours after their visit to the vet, Maggie’s legs started buckling beneath her and her back legs became completely paralysed.

Megan and Jacob, from St Helen’s, Merseyside, rushed her to Northwest Referrals where they discovered the devastating diagnosis - fibrocartilaginous embolism (FCE).

FCE is a sudden onset spine injury that happens when a piece of cartilage from the disc blocks blood flow to the spinal cord, causing a stroke and resulting in paralysis.

Megan, who works as an online chat moderator, said: “After scans and tests, they discovered that what they thought was a disc injury was actually a spinal stroke, which there is no cure for.