Outdoors

Fawn survives a frightening fall thanks to a daring rescue

A U.K. man was preparing a nice cup of Earl Grey in the early hours of the morning when he heard an odd sound outside. He discovered that a deer had become trapped 12 feet deep in a narrow space between a shed and a brick wall.

Unsure of how to free the deer, he contacted Wildlife Aid Foundation, a Surrey-based not-for-profit organization that rescues wild animals.

Quick to arrive on the scene was wildlife rescue expert Simon Cowell, who is also the creator of the TV show Wildlife SOS.

Cowell doesn’t pull any punches about the severity of the situation. “This is one of the most difficult and dangerous rescues we’ve ever attempted in 34 years of Wildlife Aid,” he says.

Without enough room to send a human down to secure the frightened deer, they used a dog loop to catch it around the waist and quickly pull it to safety.

Cowell captured the rescue with a helmet-mounted camera, and later recounted that, “There was only one chance to get this right. Had it gone wrong, the deer would, almost certainly, have broken a leg or, worse still, died.”

Thankfully, the deer was safely freed, and hopefully Cowell received a cup of piping hot tea for his efforts.