An AA patrol from Brighton carried out his most unusual rescue to date – a young deer trapped in a wire fence.
Sean O’Mara, 31, was heading home at the end of his shift last Monday evening when he was flagged down by a concerned AA member called Sylvie.
The AA said: “He immediately pulled up to check that everything was ok and was led by Sylvie to a young deer that was suspended upside down by its leg after becoming entangled in the wire fence.
“The deer seemed very weak, leading Sean to think that it had been trapped for quite some time.
“He managed, with the help of Sylvie, to support its body and used tools from his AA van to cut the twisted wire from around its trapped leg.
“Once freed, it quickly became apparent that the young animal was too weak to support itself and would need further help.
“Sean used his experience as a former horseman to check for any injuries or breakages but couldn’t see anything obvious.
“Not comfortable with the thought of leaving the deer to fend for itself, he used some equipment from the back of his AA van to build a makeshift bed.
“(It) was covered with blankets, provided by Sylvie, so that he could transport ‘Deer-dre’ to East Sussex Wildlife Rescue and Ambulance Centre, at Whitesmith, near Halland.”
Mr O’Mara, who has been a patrol for five years, said: “As soon as I saw the young deer trapped, upside down, I just knew we couldn’t leave it there.
“Even after we’d released it, my thoughts were that we still hadn’t done enough.
“AA patrols are known for doing the right thing – and getting this deer to safety definitely felt like the right thing to do.
“I’ve had plenty of casualty vehicles attached to the back of my van but, thankfully, I’ve never had a casualty inside it.
“The bed that I’d made from a lying down mat, supported by batteries, actually looked really comfortable so I was confident that it would suffice until I got to the wildlife centre – which it did.
“We left Deer-dre in the capable hands of the staff at the centre and we hope she makes a speedy recovery.
“It just goes to show, that as roadside patrols, we never know what’s around the next corner.”
This is a lovely and heartwarming story which shows the best side of humans and humanity.
I hadn’t looked at the ‘Quirkies’ section before as I thought it was actually ‘quirky’ but this story is not that, it is wonderful.