KOALA WHOSE RESCUE GAINED WORLDWIDE ATTENTION TRAGICALLY DIDN’T MAKE IT

By Cristina Hodgson • Published: 26 Nov 2019 • 23:38

This is Lake Innes Nature Reserve Peter one of the many koalas rescued. He is eating well, and his burns are healing as we expected. Its early days yet for most of them. Credit: Facebook Port Macquarie Koala Hospital

JUST yesterday Euro Weekly News posted the video of Ellenborough Lewis, the koala whose rescue gained worldwide attention.

A Woman risked her own safety to rescue the severly burnt koala from raging bushfires in Australia earlier this month and the video of the rescue went viral drawing the world’s attention to the devastating Australian bushfires.

This morning however, the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital has informed that sadly the koala wasn’t recovering. They had recently posted that “burns injuries can get worse before they get better”.

The Koala Hospital’s number one goal however is animal welfare, so it was on those grounds the decision was made to put little Lewis to sleep.

Lewis had been receiving round-the-clock care and “substantial pain relief” since his rescue last week. However the burns were severe and unfortunately would not have gotten better.

A statement on the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital facebook page reads the following:

Today we made the decision to put Ellenborough Lewis to sleep. We placed him under general anaesthesia this morning to assess his burns injuries and change the bandages. We recently posted that “burns injuries can get worse before they get better”. In Ellenborough Lewis’s case, the burns did get worse, and unfortunately would not have gotten better. The Koala Hospital’s number one goal is animal welfare, so it was on those grounds that this decision was made.
We thank you for your ongoing support.

The motorist Toni Doherty who rescued the koala told Australia’s 9News that she had named the koala after her grandchild.

Lewis was one of at least 30 koalas being treated at Port Macquarie for injuries related to the fires, as informed by the hospital.