A dog is lucky to be alive after it impaled itself with a 1m-long branch - after running into a tree while chasing a ball. 17-month-old Labrador Molly was left with the stick poking out of her chest - with 40cm still inside - and was immediately taken into surgery. The black lab was lucky to survive the freak accident, after the branch missed all of her vital organs, blood vessels and arteries and she was back home five days later.

Molly’s owner Amy Gaunt said: “Molly’s favourite thing in the world is her ball, and that day she chased after it with her usual gusto. She’s such an energetic dog and runs so fast, but unfortunately the stick got in her way as she pounced to collect her ball. The sound of her squeal was horrific, and we knew straight away that something was dreadfully wrong. She calmed down a lot when we reached her, and as my partner Ben and I had grown up with dogs we knew we needed to leave the stick in and get her to a vet immediately.”

The Gaunts were walking through a park in their hometown of Burton-upon-Trent, Staffordshire, in early April when they threw the ball for Molly. When she didn't come back, they discovered their beloved pet with a huge stick protruding from her chest, Amy and Ben raced her to Scarsdale Vets in Derby. She was given pain relief and assessed. Jen Lees, the veterinary surgeon who saw Molly, said: “I could feel the stick going half-way down Molly’s chest on the outside, but it then disappeared internally and I couldn’t feel the end, which was concerning.