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Woman Rushes Into Burning Forest To Save A Koala’s Life In Australia, Watch Video

byLoveleen Kaur
20th November 2019
2 minute read

Australian forests have been burning with the fury of devastating bushfires for weeks. The beautiful landscapes of the eastern states of New South Wales (NSW) and Queensland have been destroyed by wild-fire threatening Australia’s indigenous Koalas. Over the past week, several koalas have reportedly succumbed to injuries, either due to burns or by smoke inhalation, suggest reports.

But people have been trying their level best to help these fur-balls survive nature’s fury. Earlier, a man was seen offering water to an injured koala in the bushfire. Now it’s this brave woman who has been winning hearts by her kind gesture to save another koala from being burnt to death.

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In a heart-wrenching video that has been doing rounds on the internet, a woman identified as Toni Doherty, a resident of New South Wales, rushes into the burning forest to save a koala, reports Indian Express.

The koala was trying to cross the road but ended up being surrounded by fire. As he tried to jump to a tree, he slipped and sustained severe burns. Toni was quick to spot him and rushed to his rescue. She took off her t-shirt, covered the koala and took him to a safe neighbourhood. She later gave him some water to drink and poured some on his wounds too.

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The animal was seen crying in pain from the burns he sustained. Soon another man came with a blanket and wrapped the Koala with it. The animal was quickly taken to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital where he was given treatment.

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The injured male koala, 14, was named Ellenborough Lewis, after the woman’s grandchild. Speaking to 9 News Toni said, “He just went straight into the flames, and I just jumped out of the car and went straight to him.”

Toni was later reunited with Lewis after her rescue, however, the hospital said that they are still not sure if he will survive the burns or not. “He is probably 50-50 at this stage,” a spokesperson from the hospital said.

This year’s forest fire was the worst recorded in history. Reports suggest that as many as 350 rare koalas are feared to have died in the fire that raged around 400 kilometres north of Sydney. Although nature has been brutal on these animals, it is satisfying to see that there are some bravehearts like Toni who don’t hesitate to risk their lives to save them.

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