YOU must be kidding!

Nan, the eight-year-old goat, is having a special caliper made to help her dodgy leg.

The brave animal has been crippled by tendon trouble and is unable to walk.

Owners Verna and John Sandiford, of Edgworth, thought they had tried every trick in the book.

Then they heard about the work of a Blackburn company. Surgical appliance manufacturers S Reed and Co are working on a caliper in a last-ditch bid to help Nan to walk.

Verna, who also has three goats, three horses and several cats and dogs, said: "We will try anything. An animal is for life and we are really attached to Nan. People have been amazed how she has battled through up to now." Verna and John had considered allowing experts at Liverpool University's veterinary investigation department to carry out surgery on Nan. But they decided against it after specialists admitted there was a good chance it would not work.

They have made their own splints to allow Nan limited movement, but she is confined to the kitchen at their home.

S Reed and Company, of Aqueduct Road, usually supply specialist orthopaedic equipment to hospitals and the NHS across the country. A spokesman said: "We are usually asked to do a job of this type once every 25 years. If we can steady the leg, maybe Nan will be able to get around a bit more."

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