Israeli paramedic saves life of baby fruit bat after painful windshield collision

The veterinarian promised to release her back to nature where she had been found when she will be well enough to fly.

By JUDY SIEGEL-ITZKOVICH
Baby fruit bat saved by Magen David Adom paramedics (photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
Baby fruit bat saved by Magen David Adom paramedics
(photo credit: MAGEN DAVID ADOM)
A Magen David Adom paramedic has saved the life of an unusual patient who crashed into his ambulance’s windshield – a baby fruit bat that lost consciousness from the impact.
After resuscitating the tiny flying mammal last week, Nati Haron took it to Jerusalem’s Biblical Zoo for safekeeping.
In the evening, the mobile intensive care unit was heading to Jerusalem from Ma’aleh Adumim. Haron suddenly heard a bang and saw an object on the windshield that fell to the ground. He got out and found the victim was a baby fruit bat that was still breathing but had lost consciousness.
The paramedic put a hypodermic (minus the needle) into its mouth and fed it with sugar water. The animal woke up and enthusiastically drank. “I looked at her, and she looked back at me. I tried to release her twice in the Ma’aleh Adumim area, but I saw she couldn’t fly. I took her home and called the zoo,” which agreed to take the bat.
The veterinarian promised to release her back to nature where she had been found, when she was well enough to fly. Haron has been in touch with zoo officials, who told him she is improving and could soon be taken home and set free.