A BURY physiotherapist used his skills on an animal patient by helping to nurse an injured lamb "baa-ck" to health.

Gian Rothwell's wife, Patricia, was among a group of horse riders who found an abandoned lamb trapped under rocks on the moors above Rochdale.

They could not find any other sheep in the area, so they took the ten-day-old lamb back to Dam Top Farm in Rawtenstall.

Patricia asked her husband to have a look at the lamb's injured leg to see what he could do.

Gian, who works at Fairfield Hospital's out-patient ward, thought the lamb could have nerve damage and created a splint with two small sticks and sticky tape.

He said: "It was quite a big surprise when my wife asked me to look at the lamb. I've never treated any animal in my life.

"Surprisingly the same principles apply though - it's just the size and the wooliness that are different!"

To help the lamb - named Shaun after the Wallace and Gromit character - make a full recovery, Gian (46) decided to hold a fundraising concert called "Lamb Aid".

Gian took to the stage of the New Hall Hey Social Club in Rawtenstall last month with his band Badger and raised almost £300 to pay for vet bills.

Four weeks after being rescued, Shaun is now making a good recovery. The splint was removed from his leg last week and the lamb is back on his feet. He is also being weaned from bottles and starting to graze.

When he can eat properly, Shaun will be taken to live with rescued sheep in Edenfield.

Gian, who lives in Haslingden, said: "The lamb is a lovely little thing and he's taken over the farm now. He gets along with the cats and dogs there really well. We've all got very attached to him and it will be sad to see him go. He's become a real character."

And the father-of-one has had such a good time caring for Shaun that he is even considering a career change!

"I'm toying with the idea of going into animal therapy now that I've dabbled a bit. I'll have to think about it carefully though," he said.