An amazing story.

[pearllyn]

A MAN AND THE EAGLE

THIS IS BEYOND, AWESOME !

This is the kind of story you need when it seems like the world is spiraling out of control.

Not many people get a picture of this proud bird

snuggled up next to

them

Freedom

and Jeff

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.

When Freedom came in she could not stand

and both wings were broken. She was

emaciated and covered in lice. We made the

decision to give her a chance at life, so I took

her to the vets 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 back to her 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.

 

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.

Hope you enjoy this.

[katana600]

Thanks Lyn. This is an amazing, uplifting and timely story of love and healing.

[birdhouse]

The picture alone is awesome. Thanks for posting this story.

[Luvparrots]

What a gorgeous picture of Eagle and parront!!!! Thanks for sharing this inspiring story with us!!!

[Azzie]

What a remarkable photo and story! Thank you for sharing. I could not resist delving a little deeper, and came up with these:

 

 

http://www.sarveywildlife.org/Gallery.aspx?galleryname=Freedom%20and%20Jeff&galleryid=1280

[Ray P]

WOW!!!!! That was great

[Birdnut]

What a great story. Thanks for sharing.

[judygram]

Thanks Lyn for sharing that find with us, what an amazing friendship they make.