Bonnie's rescue story.....

I wanted to take the time to write in the most detail what happened over the last four days here on the farm. I still don't understand exactly how it happened, but I can tell you that it has been educational.

Last Wednesday morning, I saw Bonnie and the rest of the crew in their field around 8:45am as I was getting things ready for Reece's very first vet appointment with his new mobile vet. The appointment was to be outside in his park, which is directly in front of the goat paddock. As you also know, I take tons of pictures. I take them literally without thinking much about the situation, just will snap them when I see a perfect moment to capture. I went back through my phone and saw that in pictures, the lid was on the culvert pipe around 8:45 that morning. An hour later I had snapped some pics of the vet and his trainer, and in going back through the pictures, I could see that the lid was not on the pipe. I don't know if Bonnie had already fallen in, or if she was still in the field, but because we were all outside, I know none of us heard any sounds of distress.

I left around 10:30 to go to the store and when I got back, I parked my car on the far side of the property because the plan for the rest for the day was to burn some brush piles and I wanted my car near the site so I could listen to music while I was working.... It was almost noon, and my phone was also about to die, so I headed over to the house to get a charging cord. As I was walking back through the paddock where I had been all morning, I heard a distressed 'maaaaaa' that echoed as if it was coming from a cave. I looked in the field and only saw Eli, Ellie, and Ellen ..... and they were all calmly chewing cud as if their friend wasn't missing. My heart sank and I ran to the pipe and saw this about 10 feet down:

I immediately ran into the house to tell Christian, and tried to call my mom, and my phone died. I managed to get in touch with the fire chief at the local volunteer fire department, and he said he would put in a few calls and get back to me. I remembered another contact who worked in fire and rescue and called him as well. He was the first on the scene, and the idea that he came with was the one that got her out of the culvert pipe after about an hour and a half of work to free her from the pipes. 

Another first responder came equipped with a ladder that he was able to get into the pipe and climbed down to cut all the pipes with a saw, then she fell into the water below with ropes around both her front ankles, and they swiftly acted and with all hands on board, hoisted her out of the pipe and onto the ground.

The vet was on standby to check her out upon rescue and came out immediately. Miraculously, no broken bones, but the long road of recovery ahead from what I would learn about capture myopathy was something I was completely unfamiliar with.   

The next morning, she seemed ok, but when she would urinate, it was the color of coffee. This meant renal failure, which is called rhabdomyolysis. The next 24 hours would be crucial in getting her kidneys functioning. The vet took action and made sure we got her fluids and soon her urine went clear, thankfully. This is only the beginning of her recovery which will have ups and downs and could still result in her passing. It is a miracle she is here, but the next several weeks will be a day by day thing as far as if she will be able to pull through. 

We are so grateful for the swift action and rescue efforts to free her from the pipe, and hope to see more good days than bad the next few weeks.... 

Many thanks to all who helped with the rescue, prayed during and after, and who all continue to send prayers, well wishes, and positive thoughts to our Bon Bon. She is a miracle at this point, and each day is a miracle until we get on the other side of this. Thank you.

xoxo

-s