The Luckiest Turtle

by Aimee Amodio | More from this Blogger

08 Oct 2009 04:31 PM

The turtle in question was already named Lucky... and then he earned it.

Box turtle Lucky and his lady friend Lovey have a safe and happy life in their enclosed pen in a California backyard. But back in July, owner Sally Pyne found both turtles outside their pen. It seems a raccoon had shown up in the yard, attracted by food left for Pyne's outside kitty.

Lovey survived the encounter without harm, but Lucky was not quite so lucky. His front legs were gone.

Lucky was rushed to the animal hospital, where he was patched up and given medication for pain and infection. Still, there was a question of whether or not he could survive the loss. Lucky gamely pushed himself around using just his back legs, indicating a strong will to survive.

The next step? Lucky met Dr. Robert Jereb, a veterinary surgeon known for novel fixes for animal injuries. He'd worked on turtle shell injuries, repairing them with acrylic, fiberglass, Bondo, and other inorganic stuff. Jereb's original plan for Lucky was to use PVC pipe to create gliding legs. But while he was at the hardware store, inspiration struck. Jereb found quarter-sized gliders that when stacked make perfect gliding front legs for Lucky.

Now the miracle turtle gets around using his back legs for propulsion and his gliders in the front for balance. It's just tape holding the gliders in place; if Lucky starts to have problems, glue might be an alternative adhesive.

Pyne told the TODAY Show that Lucky is really enjoying his new method of locomotion... and his second chance at life.

When it comes to traumatic injuries and adapting to new "legs", pets really are amazingly resilient! I'm glad to see that Lucky (and his owner) didn't give up... and that they found a creative surgeon who could come up with the perfect solution.

Learn more about Aimee Amodio

Aimee is a fiction writer... dog lover... music lover...

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