FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - An injured bird is on its way to recovering after an alert driver stopped to rescue him.
Thanks to the good Samaritan, Roman Gotsulyak, that bird is now in a safe place to heal from his injuries in Fort Lauderdale.
Gotsulyak said he was driving in Haulover Beach, Tuesday, when he noticed the bird in the middle of the road. “After Bal Harbour, in Haulover Park, just right on the street,” he said.
That’s when he got out of his car, stopped traffic and grabbed the bird off the street and put it in his car. “I took the bird carefully. The bird start to bite me, but I just safely put him inside my car,” Gotsulyak said.
When the bird refused to eat or drink, Roman drove to the Wildlife Care Center in Fort Lauderdale, where Dr. Renata Schneider and her team of veterinarians took over. “We took a screening X-ray to make sure there were no hooks inside the body,” Schneider said.
Officials then conducted a series of blood tests to make sure the bird didn’t have any parasites.
“The bird is a little thin, and has a chip on the tip of its beak, so we know there was some kind of trauma,” Schneider said.
Despite his injuries, Schneider is optimistic, and she expects the bird will make a full recovery. “He’ll come out to the outside habitat where we will condition him for flight, and make sure the feathers have good waterproofing so that he doesn’t get drenched when he’s released into the wild,” she said.
The outdoor habitat already has several other birds that are being taken care of by the Wildlife Care Center.
Roman said he is just happy that he was at the right place, at the right time, and he just wanted to do something good. “I want people be more friendly and care for this wide world,” he said. “We have to take care of animals.”
Doctors are appreciative for Roman’s efforts. “If you see a bird that’s supposed to be by the ocean on the road, certainly something happened to it, so it’s a wonderful thing this person did, bringing it to us,” Schneider said.
Wildlife officials said the bird has no broken bones, and they do not expect problems when they eventually release him back into the wild.
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