Missing you: Little Liam with with Millie's empty cage.The four-year-old suffers from Global Developmental Delay and hadn't said a word until his grandfather bought himthe pug puppyA mute boy who spoke for the first time after getting a puppy for his birthday has been shocked back into silence after thieves snatched the dog from his back garden.
Liam Hainsworth, four, suffers from a learning disability and had never pronounced a word - until the birthday gift of a pug pup named Millie.
He uttered his first words 'dog' and 'mummy' just two weeks after the arrival of Milie and over the following weeks the youngster's life appeared to be transforming.
Now the £900 dog has been stolen from the family's back garden in Bradford and little Liam has been plunged into silence.
Liam's mother Aimee Hainsworth, 24, said: 'Liam and Milie were inseparable and Liam is heartbroken now. He goes all over the house looking for her, but he knows she's gone.
'He'll go over to Milie's cage and just beat on the bars. There's no words coming out but you just know he's screaming: "Where is Milie? Where is she?" inside.
'Milie really was his best friend. They would play together happily for hours.
None of his toys has ever held his short attention span that long so this was incredible. He loved her.
'Liam has been absolutely distraught. Straight after she was taken he started looking around for her but it was the next morning it really hit him.
'Now he has just completely gone back into his shell. He's not even tried to say any words since she went missing and he has started having tantrums again.
'He'd never even tried to say any words before he got her, but then he began to say "dog" and it was just amazing.'
Liam's grandfather Thomas Hainsworth, 58, had saved up his pension to buy Milie for his grandson after he saw how the Global Development Delay was affecting Liam's ability to speak and move.
Despite the £900 cost, Mr Hainsworth decided on a pug specifically because of his the fond relationship his daughter had with her pug when she was growing up.
Search: Milie the Pug puppy who helped four-year-old Liam to start speaking for the first timeAnd it seems Ms Hainsworth's love for the cute dogs passed on to her son, as she said Liam 'lit up' when he saw Milie for the first time.
She added: 'He was so happy. And the puppy was all giddy with the attention so it was lovely to see.
'The companionship transformed him and within two weeks he had said his first words and was working on "dad".
'Just last week I was meeting with his teachers at nursery and we were all saying how much Milie had helped him. Now this happens.'
Milie was stolen from Ms Hainsworth's gated back garden in Tyersal, Bradford, last week.
None of the local vets or shelters have seen him and officers with West Yorkshire Police are currently investigating it as a theft.
Ms Hainsworth, who also has a one-year-old daughter called Summer, is also planningo on talking to her family about the possibility of pooling their money for a reward.
She is also considering buying Liam another pug if they fail to find Milie.
Pauline Allen, Neurodevelopmentalist of The Sound Learning Centre in London, said: 'Liam has made a huge developmental leap with his speech because of his attachment to his puppy Milie and their shared unconditional love.
'Liam was not confronted by any expectations of speech from Milie and therefore when he did speak is was his choice and his decision.
'Losing Milie so suddenly is a big setback for him and we must hope that Liam and Milie will be reunited very soon.'
A West Yorkshire Police spokesman said: 'Police are treating this as theft and investigations are ongoing.'
source :dailymail
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