Supervet Noel Fitzpatrick has honoured his late dog Keira by running the London Marathon while carrying her photograph.
The 13-year-old Border terrier passed away last month, nearly a year after she was hit by a van outside the veterinary surgeons’ Surrey practice.
The 53-year-old vet previously described her as his ‘mutual guardian’, who ‘never left his side’.
And she was right there with him as the Irish-born animal lover took on the 26.2 mile race.
In a tweet he wrote: “Happy #WorldAnimalDay – may you rejoice in the companionship of the animals you love. I am paying tribute to my best friend who continues to be by my side as I take on new challenges.
“Yesterday I did the London Marathon. I carried a picture of Keira and ran with her support.”
Professor Noel has often been vocal about how Keira helped him through the hard times, and liked to ‘lick his tears’ when he was sad.
He added in a second tweet he said: “When the going got tough, thinking of her little hairy adventurous smiley face, got me through – much like she has done for the last 14 years during the tough bits of life – she spurred me on and inspired me to be the best I could be.”
In a video posted last month, he paid tribute to her and said: “She sat on my knee when I was writing lectures or doing reports whether it was happy or sad. She liked it when I was sad because she would lick my tears because she liked the salt.
“But most importantly she was the best friend I could ever want and she gave me hope.
“She made me the best I could be. She saved me from all of the ups and downs. She knew everything about me and she kept it all to herself.”
