An Injured Fox, Facebook and My Restored Faith in Humanity

I can’t tell you how much I hate myself right now. Two nights ago, I was driving through the country lanes close to my house to pick up some groceries, when a Fox ran out in front of my car.

My 21-year-old son was in the car with me too, having come home from university for the Christmas period. We had spent the afternoon playing snooker together and we were both in a really happy place. But it all changed in an instant.

I was driving at 40mph in a 60mph limit; as I always take some speed off in the country lanes, due to the risk of wild deer. But unfortunately, it seems that on this occasion my headlights must have disturbed a fox, which subsequently ran directly in front of my car.

I have always considered myself to be a good driver and I don’t think I failed on this occasion. My reactions were as good. I hit the brakes, kept control of the car and prayed. But consequently there was a small thud and I realised I had at least caught Mr Fox with a glancing blow.

It was pitch black on a dangerous road and I couldn’t stop to check. I just hoped the fox may have got lucky. It was only another minutes drive to the shops and car park, so I decided to continue and check for damage there.

What happened when we got out of the car, we will take with us to our graves!

The Fox had gone through the front grill of my car and was completely intact. It was literally lying lengthways in the cavity between the grill and the radiator, but it was trapped inside. It also had a visible broken back leg.

Then It started to move!

Oh my God, I thought. How is this even possible and how could it still be alive? But it was.

It was also in pain and I needed assistance, fast. So I called the national animal rescue service; known in the U.K. as the RSPCA. (Royal Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty to Animals)

I was pretty shocked and astounded when they told me they couldn’t help. Apparently there was no one available due to the holiday season. So much for animal welfare!

At this point I had absolutely no idea what to do. I have never felt so helpless in my entire life. I couldn’t remove it from the car due to the risk of further injury and even worse, both my phone and my son’s phone were running out of battery to find other options.

It was at this point I rang my wife to explain why we were taking so long to get home; and thank God I did!

As much as I am not a fan of Facebook these days, my wife loves it. She is also a member of the Facebook village community group in our area and decided to put a message out regarding my predicament.

The response was almost immediate. Within 5 mins a man pulled up in his car. He had no medical skills, but just heard about my situation and wanted to help. I explained our phones were out of batteries and asked him if he had any ideas of what to do, as I was out of options.

He told me it might be possible to get the fire service out to help as they had a dedicated animal rescue service in the rural areas. So he rang them.

Then out of the blue a lady pulled up in her car and told me she’d seen my wife’s Facebook post and wanted to help too. She noticed I was shaking. I hadn’t realised it at the time, but I had been standing in freezing temperatures for a long time trying to deal with the situation and was becoming hypothermic. She brought me a blanket and a coffee.

Just after this, a qualified vet who had also seen my wife’s Facebook post arrived with a medical kit. While I was trying to be strong for my son, at this point I almost cried as I knew the Fox was finally going to get help. I can’t tell you how much I love animals, and to see this animal suffering was tearing at my soul. The guilt I was feeling for hitting it will never leave me.

In the end, fourteen people came to my aid that night. Every single one of them was a devoted animal lover and we were all very upset when the Fox had to be euthanised by the vet. But the help I received was a stark reminder we are never alone in this world as long as we all stay connected.

I guess I now like Facebook after all!

Thanks for reading 🦊

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Originally published at https://medium.com/never-stop-writing/an-injured-fox-facebook-and-my-faith-in-humanity-1f87ea49e92d