LAKEWOOD RANCH, Fla. – An eagle that had been injured and rescued from a Lakewood Ranch lake by a man who jumped in to save it, went back home on Sunday.
“It was an amazing day. It was a great day for everybody here because that is our main function. As a wildlife hospital, we want to be able to send these guys home, and nothing can beat that. When you watch them take that flight, and they go home, they know they are home. You can’t beat it,” said Pamela DeFouw.
The Wildlife Center of Southwest Florida released the eagle near where it had been rescued.
Pamela DeFouw, the executive director, said the eagle required months of medical care and intensive physical therapy.
“The bird came in very bad injury. Massive puncture on his keel. A couple of different surgeries and sutures to keep it closed and then flight conditioning him and this bird just had a will to be free and live and today he got that. He went home,” said Defouw.
The backstory:
In April, Doug Hay said he dived into the lake with no hesitation to rescue the wounded eagle.
According to Hay, he and his wife were sitting in their living room when they heard a crash. He looked in the lake that’s in his backyard and saw an eagle.
He said he knew eagles couldn’t swim and there was another eagle circling above. He suspected the two were fighting.
Hay told FOX 13 in April, without hesitation he reached and ripped off his shirt, threw his flipflops off and dived into the water.
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“I threw my phone to the ground too, and my wife picked the phone up and started videoing it,” said Hay.
The lake is about 100 yards and the eagle landed “smack in the middle of it,” according to Hay. He also knew the pond was home to a seven-foot gator.
“I wasn’t too concerned about the gator,” he said.
The Wildlife Center of Southwest Florida made sure to include Hay in the eagle’s release.
“We involved him today with sending the eagle back home. He was able to open the carrier and see what he had done the end result, which is the ultimate goal,” said DeFouw.
DeFouw said Hay had regularly checked in on the eagle, and she said his actions were greatly appreciated.
“He jumped without hesitation to bring that eagle in, without gloves. I’m speechless. It takes a lot to be able to do that,” she said.
The Source: Information was gathered through the Wildlife Center of Southwest Florida and an interview with the man who rescued the eagle.