A BRAVE dog who tried to protect his family from a swarm of wasps and fell into the River Foss after being badly stung has died.

The terrifying attack happened while Sarah Stelling was walking with her four children and the family's two dogs, including their beloved golden retriever Bailey, along the side of the River Foss in Haxby, where they live.

One of Sarah's children, Harry, was running along the river bank and fell over and started screaming. As Sarah went to pick him up, she saw he was being stung by wasps.

More wasps then approached the family and started attacking Sarah and the three other children and their dogs, with Bailey taking the brunt of the attack. The dog fell into the river after losing his balance. Fire crews were called to the scene to rescue Bailey.

However, Bailey never recovered from the attack on July 23 and was put to sleep yesterday.

Sarah said: "After the attack, we seemed to live at the vets as we wanted Bailey to be the bubbly bouncing pup he once was and we were determined to get him better.

"After long months of trying everything to get our boy back on his feet with medical intervention and love, it was found that the shock and distress of the horrific wasp attack had made his immune system fail and attacked his kidneys, which sent him into renal failure.

"The ongoing support and endless conversations with our vet about Bailey's condition concluded in the news that it was kinder to put our brave dog to sleep.

"Bailey's last few days were spent with his loving family."