Meet Shocks and Amber, the best friends who have overcome incredible odds and helped each other through the toughest of times.
Born prematurely, Amber Austwick underwent an emergency tracheostomy when she was born. Unfortunately the surgery, which involved sticking a tube down her throat to open her windpipe, stopped oxygen supply to her vocal chords leaving her unable to speak.
Meanwhile, over in Ireland, Shocks the donkey was found tethered in a field, where he was covered in cuts and lesions. Distressingly, someone had poured bleach over his wounds in a misguided attempt to heal them.
Shocks was sent to The Donkey Sanctuary in Brimingham, where he made a full recovery. It was there he first met Amber in 2013.
Amber, who also suffers from cerebral palsy, was completely mute at the time and became Shocks' first patient. He was her one and only therapy animal.
