Winning Picture and Story
* How do you top this story!!! *
***
Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer.
She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her
left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery, it was
broken in 4 places. She's my baby.
Jeff
When Freedom came in she could not stand. Both wings
were broken, her left wing in 4 places. She was emaciated
and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance
at life, so I took her to the vet's office. From then on,
I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with
the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for
her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight;
and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes.
We also had to tube feed her for weeks.
This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand.
It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if
she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that
line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning.
She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to
come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center
that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being
euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was
grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately went back to her dowl cage;
and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle.
She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then.
That was a very good day.
We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her.
I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing
education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound
up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV.
Miracle Pets even did a show about us.
In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere),
so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit.
I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey
and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in
my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened
time and time again.
Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving,
I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer
was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last
option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the
tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went
in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone. Yahoo!
So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out
for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her
up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word
to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped
both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in
on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my
nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like
that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment.
We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.
On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up
to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold
on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and
I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore
he could feel her power coarse through his body. I
have so many stories like that. I never forget the honor I
have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom's.
Hope you enjoy this.
Jeff
Jeff Guidry and Freedom are at
Sarvey Wildlife Center
She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her
left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery, it was
broken in 4 places. She's my baby.
Jeff
When Freedom came in she could not stand. Both wings
were broken, her left wing in 4 places. She was emaciated
and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance
at life, so I took her to the vet's office. From then on,
I was always around her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with
the top off, and it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for
her to lay in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight;
and she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes.
We also had to tube feed her for weeks.
This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't stand.
It got to the point where the decision was made to euthanize her if
she couldn't stand in a week. You know you don't want to cross that
line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning.
She was going to be put down that Friday, and I was supposed to
come in on that Thursday afternoon. I didn't want to go to the center
that Thursday, because I couldn't bear the thought of her being
euthanized; but I went anyway, and when I walked in everyone was
grinning from ear to ear. I went immediately went back to her dowl cage;
and there she was, standing on her own, a big beautiful eagle.
She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then.
That was a very good day.
We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her.
I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing
education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound
up in the newspapers, radio (believe it or not) and some TV.
Miracle Pets even did a show about us.
In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma.
I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere),
so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost the hair - the whole bit.
I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey
and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in
my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened
time and time again.
Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving,
I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer
was not all gone after 8 rounds of chemo, then my last
option was a stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the
tests; and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went
in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone. Yahoo!
So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out
for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her
up, and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word
to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped
both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in
on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings), and she touched my
nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like
that for I don't know how long. That was a magic moment.
We have been soul mates ever since she came in. This is a very special bird.
On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up
to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold
on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and
I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore
he could feel her power coarse through his body. I
have so many stories like that. I never forget the honor I
have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom's.
Hope you enjoy this.
Jeff
Sarvey Wildlife Center
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