Year 9 Pupils Commended for  Attempt to Save Injured Bird

Four Year 9 pupils tried to save a bird’s life after finding it with a damaged leg on the school’s fields.

Freya, who has parrots at home, said: “I saw it on the field with what looked like a damaged leg and I alerted a teacher.  They said to leave it and see if it was still there the next day as it might fly off.

“We went back the day after and it was still there and its leg was bleeding.

“We identified it as an Oystercatcher and Lily caught it. We took it inside and it was alert; it looked like it was just its leg that was hurt. 

“As I know a bit about birds, I was able to give it some water while we called the nearby vets.

“While we were waiting we called it ‘Mark’, no idea why as we don’t know whether it’s a boy or a girl!”

Mr Oakes took it to Ribble Vets at the end of Crookings Lane and said: “The vets were really concerned for the Oystercatcher's injuries and said it looked like it had some form of string or netting wrapped around its feet.  They promised to take good care of Mark.

“A bit later, they rang to inform me that Mark had a broken leg, and both of his feet were extremely damaged and painful for him.

"Due to the extent of his injuries, the vet made the difficult decision to put Mark to sleep.

“They were very thankful to the girls for bringing Mark to their attention and said that while this outcome is sad, they did a great service to the bird by saving him from a potential predator attack while he was in this condition.

"They also said, whether they had acted earlier or not, the outcome would have been the same.”

Ribble Vets were grateful to Penwortham Priory Academy for promoting a caring attitude with our pupils.

All four girls involved will receive recognition for the efforts through the Priory+ Award Citizenship strand and have received positive behaviour points through Arbor.

Well done, Freya B, Lily E, Amelia L and Lily H.