Aussie woman suffers internal injuries from kangaroo attack
Sydney: A woman in Australia’s Queensland state suffered internal injuries including a collapsed lung and broken ribs after being attacked by a wild kangaroo that her husband was feeding on Saturday night, according to local media. Wildlife carer Linda Smith, 64, and her husband Jim were feeding the marsupials at their home southwest of state capital Brisbane when one kangaroo, “a huge grey … turned on him,” the ABC news channel reported on Sunday. “Jim was on the ground and the kangaroo just kept at him,” Xinhua news agency quoted Smith as saying. Smith said she took a broom and a piece of bread to try and help her husband but the kangaroo “knocked the broom out of my hand then attacked me”. The animal went back into the bush and was gone when emergency services arrived, with one paramedic saying Smith was “lucky to be alive”. She was in stable condition and set to undergo surgery on Sunday afternoon, the channel reported. Smith said she understood the attack was “an act of nature” and did not want the kangaroo to be hunted and killed. Kangaroos, like their marsupial cousins koalas, are a popular Australian sight and can be found in the wild throughout the country. Earlier this year, kangaroo attacks on visitors at a hospital site in New South Wales state alone fuelled calls for more warnings about feeding or approaching the animals. (IANS)
In a first, Indian-origin blind man to get guide horse in UK
London: An Indian-origin man based in north-west England, who suffers from a degenerative eye condition, is set to become the first person in the UK to get a guide horse to assist him with daily tasks once he loses his vision completely. Mohammed Salim Patel, a journalist based in Blackburn at Lancashire, suffers from a condition called Retinitis Pigmentosa, due to which he is left with a very small amount of sight in his right eye and will eventually become totally blind. The 24-year-old, who suffers from a deep-seated fear of dogs since a scary childhood encounter, could not rely on the more commonly used guide dogs for the blind and that is how the concept of a miniature guide horse came to his attention. “Digby (guide horse) is still a baby and will be two years old in May 2019. His training will take around two more years, so I expect to be able to bring him home to Blackburn once he’s finished his training,” Patel told PTI. “There is no rush though, as there would be for a guide dog. Digby will be able to work into his 40s, whereas a guide dog has to retire at the age of eight,” he said. After spending some time with his companion-to-be, Patel believes a guide horse has many added benefits over guide dogs, including a much longer working life, 350-degree vision and ability to see in the dark. The story of Digby caught the attention of the annual Amplifon Awards for Brave Britons, where the horse is among the finalists in the Hero Pet category – aimed at honouring animals who have transformed the life of their owners. “It’s very nice to have Digby recognised for his great work, despite still being in training. He is a star,” said Patel, in reference to the awards, which will be announced on Tuesday. (PTI)