A Baby Alpaca Is Given the Gift of Mobility With Her New Wheelchair
Thanks to a kind-hearted young woman named Ronja Pohl, a baby alpaca in Germany is alive and well—adjusting to life on the farm with three legs and a newly fitted wheelchair.
The tenacious baby alpaca named Marie-Hope was born with severely damaged back legs. Adding to her misfortune, Marie-Hope's sister and mother died during the challenging birth. Marie-Hope's prognosis for recovery looked grim until this lucky baby alpaca crossed paths with her very own hero.
In a case of serendipity, Pohl was visiting a friend's farm shortly after the birth of Marie-Hope. After seeing the disabled baby alpaca, Pohl asked to adopt Marie-Hope and take her back to a farm where she works in Frankfurt. Pohl's next steps: having a local veterinarian evaluate Marie-Hope's legs. The veterinarian was able to save one of Marie-Hope's badly damaged legs, although the other had to be amputated.
Refusing to let sweet Marie-Hope live a life of limited mobility, Pohl contacted a company that makes wheelchairs for animals. Luckily, they were able to fit the baby alpaca with a new wheelchair. Marie-Hope is now completely mobile, joining the other animals on the farm.
"As soon as she is able to carry weight on her third leg, she will get an artificial limb and join my boyfriend's alpaca herd to live a normal alpaca life," Pohl tells Reuters.
As long as Marie-Hope has Pohl in her corner, anything is possible!