Britain's Got Talent star 'lost everything' after Storm Bert damaged his Callington home

A former Britain’s Got Talent star is devastated after his home was flooded by Storm Bert. Dave Wardell and his wife, Gemma, have now been left desperately trying to fix the damage and replace their furniture and electronics in time for Christmas.

Dave described it as being a “rotten way to end a rotten day” on Saturday (November 23) after also having three of his dogs take ill on the same day, with one of them sadly passing away due to kidney failure. He explained that he and Gemma had to rush two of their rescue dogs, and their own pet, Harper, to the vet that morning and returned home later in the day to find that their home was flooded with dirty water.

“Having had a rubbish day, with one dog crossing over the rainbow bridge and having to take another one for an emergency operation in Newquay, we were away from the house for three hours,” Dave told CornwallLive. “Then, when we got home and wanted to relax, we walked through the door and saw a three-inch deep puddle inside. We have lost everything because it was dirty water from a drain on the road outside our house.”

READ MORE: Illogan murder accused makes first Truro Crown Court appearance

READ MORE: Former Penzance pupil reunited with school exercise book after nearly five decades

While Dave and Gemma’s home is located within the grounds of the rescue centre, luckily, none of the kennels were flooded and the dogs were unharmed. However, the damage to the ground floor of their property has been significant and their bed, sofas, TV, cabinets, and a lot of kitchen equipment have all been ruined.

Dave said that while finding a builder to repair their home before Christmas has proved difficult, he and Gemma have been overwhelmed by the support they have received from their community. Their friend, Nicola Thomas, set up a GoFundMe to raise money for the cost of the repairs to Dave and Gemma’s home. You can visit their GoFundMe page here.

“Working in rescue, you do get to see the rubbish side of people with the way some of these dogs are surrendered, kicked out or taken to the vet to be put to sleep when they have done nothing wrong, so you get a bit of a tainted view of people,” Dave said. “But when Nicola set up this fundraiser for us, we had people delivering food here and giving us sandbags, so it just restores your faith in humankind again, and it has been really touching.”

Dave became widely known for his work as a police dog handler with Finn, a heroic German Shepherd, who saved Dave’s life while on duty in 2016 after they were attacked while chasing an armed suspect. Both were stabbed during the incident but Finn protected his handler and almost died.

Thankfully, Finn recovered and his bravery helped inspire Finn's Law, a piece of legislation to protect service animals. In 2019, Dave and Finn wowed the judges on Britain's Got Talent and secured a spot in the finals.

After Finn's retirement, he became part of Dave’s family up until his death last year at the age of 14. During this time, Dave and his family moved to Callington to take over Camelot Kennels, home of German Shepherd Rescue Elite, where they work day and night to rehabilitate and rehome the dogs in their care.

Click here to join CornwallLive on WhatsApp. We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners. If you don’t like our community, you can check out any time you like. If you’re curious, you can read our Privacy Notice.