A TERMINALLY ill Winsford teenager has been reunited with his beloved dog after it was stolen from his back garden

Paul Williams, 19, was left heartbroken when thieves stole his puppy Dre last month but following an appeal in the Guardian the missing dog has been found safe and well.

Paul suffers from cystic fibrosis and his condition deteriorated following the theft of Dre, but he is now feeling much better. His mum Janice said: "We are absolutely delighted that he is back.

"He is the only thing keeping Paul going so it was important that we found him."

Janice made a heartfelt appeal in the Guardian to try to trace Dre and is grateful for the support she received from the community. She said: "The appeal in the paper certainly helped because it got a lot of people involved in trying to find him.

"Someone contacted us to say that he had been sold to a family in Liverpool so we went to collect him.

"The family had no idea what had happened to Dre and they were quite upset when they found out."

Paul has to take 50 tablets a day and is placed on an overnight feed so Janice bought Dre for her son when it became difficult for him to leave his home.

She said: "He is getting a bit better since we found Dre. His weight went down to 4.5st when Dre was stolen but he is starting to put weight back on again.

"He is very ill and I'm just pleased that he has got a little bit of happiness by having Dre with him."