A former police officer left with severe disabilities after being savagely beaten on duty has had her life transformed by what's believed to be the UK's first ever care worker dog.
Jackie Kennedy, 54, from Poplar, East London, uses Government money to pay for assistant dog Kingston, which she says makes him the first ever dog to be officially hired as a carer on the NHS.
Kingston has saved Jackie's life around 10 times, she says.
If she has a fall indoors, he fetches a blanket and drapes it over her, before bringing her phone. He gives her family peace of mind.
The precocious pooch can help Jackie get dressed, get into the shower and into her bed.
He helps her make her bed, turn over in bed, and takes a duvet off her it gets too hot.
He can fetch the post and tear open parcels and even grabs items from the shelves while shopping.
And Jackie calculates that the five-year-old labrador saved the NHS around £837,000 in the time she has had him.
"I owe this boy so much," said Jackie.
"Society tells us that if you are not productive then you are not good enough anymore. Don't listen to that.
"Kingston has made my home somewhere I don't just sit in all day, but somewhere I return to after a day out. I wouldn't have the confidence without him."
The former Met Police officer underwent brain surgery after being kicked repeatedly in the head on Brick Lane in London when on duty alone.
She now suffers severe epilepsy, problems with short-term memory loss and is confined to a wheelchair after a later diagnosis of a compressed spinal cord.
But if she forgets to turn something off, Kingston the wonder dog does it for her.
And, perhaps most impressively of all for a dog, Kingston will fetch a drink from fridge and won't be tempted by any of the food inside.
Jackie says Kingston is able to alert her 45 minutes before she has a seizure and she calculates that in 2016 alone he stopped 64 emergency ambulances coming out to her home.
Jackie's epilepsy is "really brutal", and the first time Kingston saved her life, they had only known each other for 10 days.
"I had a seizure 10 days into training at the training bungalow in Heyshott," Jackie explains.
"He broke through his tether, opened the door, ran out and got a carer, brought her in and they got an ambulance.
"Now, if my blood sugar is too high he nudges my leg and gets my hypo kit, brings insulin in."
In 2007 Jackie was diagnosed with the serious neurological condition, cauda equina syndrome and spinal stenosis and was left with severe weakness in the lower half of my body and have to use a wheelchair full time.
Jackie has previously told Canine Partners how this saw her life "changed overnight."
She said: "I had been a happy and extremely active person but I suddenly fell into a deep depression.
"The life I loved had gone forever and I felt that I was hanging by the fingertips on the edge of a very dark and never ending abyss.
"I was in constant severe pain and I was unable to do most daily tasks independently. My life became unbearable and I planned to kill myself.
"People didn’t know how I was feeling because I would put on a big smile and say I was fine. To the world I was fun, smiley, strong Jackie yet inside I was unable to cope and in a very dark and lonely place."
But Kingston changed all that.
Jackie said: "Kingston is my best friend, my soul pup, my heart, my world, my hero, my lifesaver, my everything.
"Kingston has not only transformed my life, Kingston has given me a brand new one. He has given me hope, love and a fantastic future crammed full of adventure and fun. I owe this truly magical boy so much.
"I can never thank the charity enough for bringing Kingston into my life.
"Kingston has done much more than transform my life. Kingston has given me a life that is full of happiness, laughter fun and adventure.
"I have gone from a life that was blighted with the ‘big black dog of depression’ to a life that I share with a big beautiful, gentle black dog that radiates love, light and happiness.
"Kingston is my angel in a fur coat. He rocks my world."
Jackie receives a personal health budget to pay for her care from the NHS, and can choose who she employs.
She is supported by a carer but due to her needs it would cost £120,000 for a second pair of hands.
Kingston negates the need for that - and costs just £3,000 a year to look after, including dog food, insurance and visits to the vet.
But Jackie faced a battle initially when she tried to convince the NHS to allow her to make Kingston the first officially NHS-funded carer dog in the UK.
"My social worker suggested it when he picked up a pen for her," said Jackie.
"It had never been done before and took a bit of a battle. The CCG [Clinical Commissioning Group] kept saying no. But we showed what he could do and the difference he makes.
"If my carer was not available I would be stuck in bed all day, but Kingston can get my legs out of bed, get my wheelchair, and fetch my clothes by my bed.
"He's my hero."
Jackie said the Government should follow Australia's lead and pay for all assistant dogs for disabled people who want them - and save themselves a packet in the process.
"We need more dogs like this," added Jackie.
And not only is Kingston a superstar to Jackie - he has famous blood in his veins, too.
His two grandmothers featured in ITV's Downton Abbey and one of them was one of a pair of dogs to play Isis, the loyal and loved dog of Robert Crawley, Earl of Grantham.
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