A community that saw a Donkey drowning in a raging river jumped into action to get him to safety!
Vanderbijlpark, South Africa (19 February 2023) – The LochVaal Club community rallied together yesterday to save a donkey that had been swept away in a raging river caused by the recent storms.
They had just finished lunch when some of the community members noticed that the river was rapidly rising. They decided to make their way back to the LochVaal Club when they saw the Donkey in the water. It looked stressed, tired and “very broken”. Suddenly the river increased in velocity and turbulence, sweeping the exhausted Donkey away from the bridge and into more dangerous rapids.
The Club members immediately jumped into action to save the Donkey, although they could no longer see it. They spread out along the shoreline and searched the rapids for signs that the Donkey was still alive.
“We honestly thought the Donkey had died once we lost sight of it. We couldn’t find it in the rapids for the longest time, it had also been swept under a bridge,” Ricky Rozanski, a LochVaal Club member, told Good Things Guy.
Suddenly around 100 meters from where the Donkey was initially spotted, they saw the worn-out animal fighting to keep its head above the water.
The SAPS water wing had called for no boats to be on the water due to the flooding, debris and raging rapids, but the community knew what they had to do. Club members quickly grabbed ropes and life jackets before jumping into boats and onto jet skis to get to the Donkey.
“It took a real team effort. It was really dangerous but we couldn’t leave it to die. The Donkey was so exhausted; it hardly moved while we were getting it back to shore,” Rozanski continued.
You can watch the rescue below:
@alyssarugg28 Thank you for these amazing people who saved a donkeys life🥰💖 #riverrats #vaalriverrats #vaalfloods #lochvaal #savealife #amazingpeople #floodssouthafrica ♬ Gentle and positive refreshing piano solo (2 minutes)(1007899) – SoLaTiDo
It took two hours and a whole lot of love and care, but the Donkey regained its strength and started eating and “hee-hawing” again… perhaps to thank its rescuers for saving it from the rapids.
Rozanski shared a photo of the “very happy” Donkey this morning.
“We have no idea who the donkey belongs to but he is safely at the LochVaal Club… keeping a distance from the river.”
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