When John Debacker, an experienced rescuer, got a call about a mysterious animal stranded in the middle of the busy New York City’s Grand Central Parkway, he knew he had no time to spare.
He contacted his friend, Karenlynn Stracher, for backup, and together, they made their way to the four lanes of heavy traffic, determined to save whoever needed it.
Rescue Mission
As soon as the duo arrived at the scene, they spotted the animal standing on the center median visibly distressed.
As they approached it, they realized that it was actually a cat. Knowing that cats are very fast runners, John and Karenlynn had to be very careful when approaching her.
With cars whipping past them on both sides, John decided to drape a blanket over his hands and quickly grab her, but the cat got scared and immediately ran away.
John captured the nerve-wracking rescue on video:
John and Karenlynn were horrified as they watched the cat cross the lanes, weaving between the speeding cars. She managed to pass the first two lanes, but as she got to the third one, she was stuck.
“I immediately hopped the barrier and forced traffic to a stop where the cat was seen laying in the number 3 lane, still alive, but stunned,” wrote John in a Facebook post.
John had no other choice but to run over to the scared cat in the middle of the road while Karenlynn went to get a trap from the car.
“I grabbed her with all of my might and I wrapped her in a blanket…” John wrote.
John crossed the highway yet again… this time, with the cat in his arms, and ran to Karenlynn, securing her in the cage.
Luckily and miraculously, the cat had no injuries except from being quite stressed out. Because of this, John named her Miracle.
New Life
John immediately took Miracle to the emergency vet for a thorough checkup. The vet confirmed that she had no injuries, and was in perfect shape.
John then decided to scan Miracle for a microchip and, to his surprise, she had one.
“It came up to over a mile away from where she was found, so we were able to reunite her with her parents,” John told The Dodo.
Miracle, whose real name is Flamingo, was finally back where she belonged after she was released from the vet when she completely recovered.
Even though John has no idea how Flamingo got to the New York highway, his heart was filled with joy when he saw that she was finally reunited with her family.
Flamingo’s parents are endlessly grateful to John for saving their beautiful girl, but John states how incredible it was to see so many drivers stopped on the highway, allowing him to save the cat.
“Seeing all lanes of traffic come to a halt for an animal was an amazing sight to see, seeing so many people care,” John concluded.