We all have sad stories, that is life I suppose. However, when you lose someone who has supported you and your family unswervingly and relentlessly through all your good and bad times, it changes you. You know that the person you loved who has carried you and supported you along the way isn't there anymore, but what is left, after the sadness and tears, is a far greater strength, determination and toughness to meet everything life has to challenge you with.

That will be the legacy that Lewis leaves with me. He helped me through so much in my life, just because it was his nature. Well now it must be my nature, and his strength will be my strength. For although he has gone, he has given me more than I ever knew he would, and I know he will continue to do so. That's how amazing he is.

Lewis had an amazing life. He was a rescue dog, who had been picked up on the side of a South African motorway by a vet who had seen some townshippers using him as a football. He was 5 weeks old when we took him home and remarkably, despite his roadside abuse, only knew love.

Through his amazing life he was a medical marvel and loved by all who met him. At the age of 3 he swallowed a fishermans hook and we were so worried they were going to have to cut him open to remove it, but he shrugged that off easily enough. At the age of 4 he was diagnosed with Chronic Arthritis and it was said he would only probably have a few more years as his quality of life would deteriorate sharply.

However we were lucky enough to find the Westville Veterinary  Hospital and Dr Willem Verheer, one of the top SA vet surgeons who replaced both knees and one hip in Lewis and because he recovered in record time he became cited in SA medical journals and gazettes. Our boy was a medical marvel and the canine equivalent of Steve Austin's $6 Million Man!

Lewis was diagnosed with Stage 4 Lymphoma in July 2012 and because (in true Lewis fashion) he responded so well to Chemo we decided to take him home when we returned to the UK at the end of 2012. Much thanks must go to all the staff at Westville Veterinary Hospital in particular to Dr Willem Verheer, Dr Richard Smith and Irene, all of whom are absolute saints and tireless champions for the well being of animals. Thanks you guys, we are so happy we found wonderful people like you.

Lewis took to life in the UK like a water to duck and it was very apparent that he was an English dog, not a South African one. Everything from the climate to the attitude to dogs was in his favour! But most of all we will remember how happy Lewis was in his last few years charging and trotting around the fields and parks of Mill Hill.

Lewis was a lucky one. We were fortunate to be referred to the Royal Veterinary College in Borehamwood and received what can only be described as the best animal care in the world. We were lucky to have found Westville Veterinary Hospital, but in RVC we had hit the jackpot. Under the care of some incredible Vets in the oncology department Lewis' life was extended for over 2 years from the date of his original diagnosis (average mortality is a year) and the sad and harsh truth is that he would have gone on for another year with the care of the RVC and its army of expertise and access to drugs and treatments - including the sponsored trial of the SG2000 drug - in which Lewis was a participant, beneficiary and will have undoubtedly saved and extended the lives of thousands of other ill dogs. Good on you mate - I wouldn't have expected any less.

In the end, it was not Lewis who had to throw in the towel, it was me, and that is something which will always be hard to reconcile. Although I did the right thing, and I know that, you cant ever view the departure of your best friend as a positive thing. Good things can happen thereafter and especially in their memory.

Wherever Lewis went, he was loved, and certainly never saw himself as a dog, but rather a human on all fours. As his close friend Irene from Westville remarked, it was incredible with all the pain he had been in over the years, that he had never ever shown an ounce of aggression in his handling or treatment. The boy was STRONG! The trail of broken leads tells their own story. Lewis gave love to all....except other dogs, but we wouldn't change any aspect of him for the world.

The truth is the more you love someone, the more pain you have to go through when inevitably they go.

Life is a book, some chapters are happy, some are sad, but living the story is life itself, and it is amazing. I am happy that I got to have so many chapters with Lewis, sad for the ones that are now without him, but eternally grateful for the fact that the chapters he was a part of will influence me for the rest of my life.

And it starts here....