Squirrel Hit by Car Not Breathing, Stranger Does CPR for 20 Minutes & Saves Its Life
Video footage of a young man from Minnesota giving CPR to a squirrel has left viewers with softened hearts and wide grins.
It all started when Chris Felix, 19, swerved to miss a squirrel while driving down a Minneapolis road. While Felix didn’t run over the squirrel, the impact from the vehicle’s tire certainly knocked the frightened creature out cold.
Most people probably would have kept on driving, maybe cringing and trying not to glance back in the mirror.
But Felix stopped his car, grabbed a pair of gloves, and stooped down to give the squirrel a life-saving assist.
Felix began to give CPR to the squirrel, using a gloved finger to press firmly but gently on the squirrel’s chest.
The unusual scene prompted two Brooklyn Park police officers to stop and ask Felix if everything was OK.
As they approached the young man hovered over the lifeless squirrel, the officers could scarcely believe their eyes.
“Is he giving it CPR?” asked Brooklyn Park Police Department Deputy Chief Mark Bruley. “I think it is, look at him!”
The squirrel now had a small team of men rallying around him, all eager to see the little guy take a few breaths and scamper away.
Inspecting the animal as best as possible, Felix didn’t believe the squirrel had suffered any internal harm. One of the officers suggested Felix turn the squirrel over, which seemed to do the trick.
To everyone’s relief, the small critter began to show signs of life. “He’s coming around now,” one of the officers said.
Suddenly, life flooded back into the stunned squirrel, who took off sprinting into the woods.
The men cheered and laughed, giving one another celebratory high-fives.
Felix, an animal lover who works as a car detailer, later said that it’s the small things that can have the most meaning.
“Help out little things. You know, little things matter,” Felix told WCCO-TV.
Bruley felt a sense of unity and humanity as the three men rallied around the squirrel.
“Just the humanity of it. It wasn’t just a police officer and a citizen there,” Bruley said. “Those were just three people enjoying the moment.”
The police department posted a video of the happy ending to Facebook, paired with Gloria Gaynor’s entirely apropos 1978 hit “I Will Survive.”
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