This Morning viewers were left sobbing today after an emotional reunion between a domestic abuse victim and the man who fostered her dog while she got her life back on track.
Gemma was on the sofa with pooch Dusty to discuss how the Dog’s Trust Freedom Project had rescued Dusty after a shelter refused to allow him to stay with her when she left her partner.
She was terrified Dusty would come to harm if she left him at home with the partner, but her fears were alleviated when Dog’s Trust hooked her up with Frank, a foster carer.
Frank took in Dusty and cared for him while Gemma moved into the shelter, before handing Dusty back when Gemma was back on her feet.
And the tears really started flowing when Gemma was given the chance to say thank you to Frank when he surprised her by phoning in via Skype.
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She tearfully told him: “I love you to pieces and I’m so grateful because of everything I was left with, which was very little, I managed to keep the family.
“Honest to God, I owe you so much. Thank you. I’m so grateful.”
Frank, who became a foster carer for dogs after his wife of 40 years died, said it had been a pleasure to look after Dusty.
He kept Gemma updated throughout the fostering experience, sending her photos of Dusty out and about, showing the pup was enjoying life and being well cared for.
“His temperament was beautiful,” said Frank.
Gemma explained how she’d had Dusty for a year before she met her now-ex partner.
She said the first two months with him were fine, but he then attacked her in public, strip searching her in their garden.
Another serious incident occurred when he dug a trowel into the side of her head while her son watched.
Gemma admitted: “The more he pushed, the more I felt ‘do it’. I didn’t fight back, I didn’t resist. I just relaxed my arms and went ‘just do it’.”
At one stage, Dusty came to Gemma’s defence, biting her partner.
“The last year of the relationship, I think he’d knocked me out, I can’t quite remember,” said Gemma. “I remember being on the floor. Dusty had cornered me and as I came around, my partner was screaming. Dusty was in front of me growling, blood everywhere, and my partner was saying, ‘Get him out! He bit me!’
“I would cry morning to night and Dusty was all I had.”
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When Gemma finally walked out on her partner, she was told Dusty couldn’t accompany her to the refuge. She was worried what might happen to Dusty if she left him at home.
That’s when she found the Dog’s Trust Freedom Project, who came to her rescue. “I didn’t have to worry about him,” she said. “I knew he was safe where he was.”
Gemma’s story and Frank’s selfless action touched a nerve with viewers, who took to Twitter to say they were crying over the segment.
This Morning airs weekdays at 10.30am on ITV.