Woman saves crying koala from a bushfire (Video)

The Red List of Threatened Species had already classified the koala as vulnerable, but the species is being threatened even more by devastating bushfires that have already burned more than 2.5 million acres of Australia’s east coast. But one recent act of bravery has given the country hope in fighting the blaze. After spotting a koala crossing a road amongst the flames in New South Wales, a local woman rushed to the animal’s aid.

The woman, named Toni Doherty, said she was passing by the area on fire in Port Macquarie, New South Wales, when she saw the animal and acted on instinct to save it. “I knew if we didn’t get him down from the tree then he would have been up there amongst the flames,” she said. In the video, Doherty rushes toward the koala in a tree and picks it up with her shirt. The koala appears very badly burned, with scabs all over its body.

An act of bravery

Doherty then gives the koala water to drink and washes its body before wrapping it up in a blanket. The koala, who Doherty named Lewis after her grandson, was taken to the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital, a facility that is taking care of up to 15 affected koalas. The koala had serious burns but was “well enough to have a munch on some eucalyptus leaves.” Wath the video, in the midst of destruction and devastation, the woman risks her own safety. She whipped off her shirt and used it to wrap up the wailing koala.