A tourist heading for a vacation in rural British Columbia carried out a roadside C-section on a dying deer miraculously saving her fawn.
Sean Steele, of Barrhead, Alberta, was driving with his wife, Michele, last Friday a outside of Prince Rupert when they saw a vehicle ahead of them on Highway 16 strike a deer. The couple got out to help – preparing mostly to put the deer out of her misery – when Steele noticed a hoof emerging from the doe.
He grabbed a knife and pulled out the fawn.
“I cleaned out its mouth, put some grass in its nose so it would sneeze and get all the crap out of it,” he told CBC. “It starting breathing.”
Michele Steele posted this video of her husband and the orphaned deer, which they called Friday.
They put Friday in their vehicle and drove to the Northern Lights Wildlife Society in Smithers, B.C.
“Boy oh boy things can’t get much crazier here,” the animal rescue group posted on Facebook. “Got a call today from people on vacation that had a fatal vehicle accident with a deer. The female deer aborted a live female fawn. That of course made for some frantic action.”
“We are happy to report that the fawn seems to be unharmed and is drinking her bottle like a champion,” the wildlife society added. “Our little male fawn is not sure if he likes her yet. Especially when she is trying to nurse from him he looks a bit concerned.”
And soon, Friday was moved to an outdoor enclosure with her slightly older BFF.
Steele shrugged off the whole thing telling CTV it “was no big deal.”
Naturally, the survival story has gone viral. And, nobody is more proud than Steele’s family. His daughter, Stephanie, posting on Facebook.
“That’s Friday!” she wrote. “My dad saved this deer!”
Now a week old, Friday seems to be thriving. She even has her own Facebook page.
The grateful deer – and her caring humans – added one final note:
“My new home feeds and cares for a lot of animals that have been injured or orphaned. Please donate to the Northern Lights Wilderness Society to help feed me. It is really appreciated.”
