A WOMAN who has suffered a six-month ordeal in hospital said it cheered her up when the family was given a national greyhound award.

Mandy Cameron-Taylor, 48, of Chard, was paralysed down her right side after complications during an operation to remove a tumour on her spine in August.

But Mandy and her husband of three years Ian, 52, and son Matthew, 14 - all greyhound racing fanatics - were given a surprise this month when Sky Sports presented Ian with a Winner of the Year accolade.

She said: “One of our dogs won but I had to stay at home and watch it on the television.

“I saw Ian go on the winner's stage and then I couldn't believe it when he was presented with the award - they told him to bring it home to me to cheer me up.”

Ian owned greyhounds with his mum in the 1980s but stopped due to the cost involved.

Then in 2012, Ian and Mandy joined the Champagne Club, where people can buy shares in greyhounds and then receive a share of any prize money if the dog wins on the track.

The couple have shares in seven dogs, with each name starting with Bubbly, including Bubbly Rockets, Bubbly Phantom and Bubbly Beauty.

A two-day stay in hospital earlier this year suddenly turned into a six-week stint after Mandy's operation left her without any movement or feeling in her right side.

Speaking from her home in Howards Row, Mandy said she is starting to recover and hydrotherapy sessions are helping to bring back some of the movement in her chest and abdomen.

She said: “I am hopeful that I will get the feeling and movement back gradually but I just want to thank them for the award because it put a smile on my face.”

Mandy is also a member of the Chard Amateur Theatre Society and is hoping to be fit enough to play the role of Evil Queen in their January pantomime Snow White.