A search dog from the National Park Mountain Rescue Team has died after recently saving a life.

Bramble, a six-year-old English Shepherd, passed away from acute leukaemia just 10 weeks after her first operational call-out.

After qualifying as a mountain rescue search dog in January 2024, in very her first search, Bramble found a missing person, bringing a major search involving more than 16 different rescue teams to a close.

A spokesperson for the Mountain Rescue Team said: "Operational search dogs might only find two or three people in their career and what made this find so unique was that Bramble found the person on her very first search."

Bramble was a community dog, with her name chosen from more than 200 suggestions made by the public on the team’s Facebook page.

Her handler, Andrew, was by her side when she died on her sixth birthday.

Team leader Iain Nixon said: "Bramble was a fantastic search dog and we are all incredibly sad that she has died so suddenly.

"Search dogs are very much part of our team and her loss is felt by everyone.

"On behalf of the team and especially her handler, Andrew, we’d like to offer our thanks to Ayres Veterinary Hospital in North Shields for doing all they could to help Bramble."

Bramble came from a family of helpers, with her sister Dottie being an operational search dog with Edale Mountain Rescue Team, and her brother Stan a therapy dog.

Her mum and aunt, Shola and Fern, are both retired search dogs.

Between them, this family of search dogs have found eight missing people.

Following Bramble's death, an appeal has been launched to support future lifesaving search dogs.

Half of the funds raised through this campaign will be donated to Mountain Rescue Search Dogs England (MRSDE), the charity which trains new mountain rescue search dogs and qualifies them for operational status.

The other half will be donated to the Northumberland teams Bramble worked with.

The funds will support the costs of their search dogs, including veterinary care, dog-related PPE, equipment, consumables, and lifesaving equipment issued to the dog handler.

For more information on the fundraising appeal, visit justgiving.com/page/search-dog-bramble.