Received from my friend in Texas.
This is the kind of story you need when it seems like the world is spiraling out of control. Not many people get a picture of this proud bird snuggled up next to them!
Freedom and Jeff.
Freedom and I have been together 11 years this summer.
She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings.
Her left wing doesn't open all the way even after surgery,
It was broken in 4 places. She's my baby.
When Freedom came in she could not stand and both wings
were broken. She was Emaciated and covered in lice. We
made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took
her to the vet's office. From then on, I was always around
her. We had her in a huge dog carrier with the top off, and
it was loaded up with shredded newspaper for her to lay in.
I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight; and
she would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes.
We also had to tube feed her for weeks.
This went on for 4-6 weeks, and by then she still couldn't
stand. It got to the point where the decision was made to
euthanize her if she couldn't stand in a week. You know you
don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab,
and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put
down that Friday, and I was to come in that Thursday. I
didn't want to go to the center because I couldn't bear the
thought of her being euthanized; but I went anyway, and
when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I
went back to her cage; and there she was, standing on her
own, a big beautiful eagle. She was ready to live. I was
just about in tears by then. That was a very good day.
We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to
glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to
jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools
in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers and
Radio (believe it or not) and some TV. Miracle Pets even did
a show about us.
In the spring of 2000, I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's
lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ
plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo.
Lost the hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I
felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom
out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams
and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time
again.
Fast forward to November 2000, the day after Thanksgiving.
I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer
was not gone after 8 rounds of chemo. My last option was a
stem cell transplant. Anyway, they did the tests; and I had
to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and
I was told that all the cancer was gone.
So the first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and
take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty
and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her
up, and we went out front to the top of the
Hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but
somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped
both her wings around me to where I could feel
them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle
wings), and she touched my nose with her beak and
stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like
that for I don't know how long . That was a magic
moment. We have been soul mates ever since she
came in. This is a very special bird.
On a side note: I have had people who were sick
come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has
some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was
terminal come up to us and I let him hold her.
His knees just about buckled and he swore he could
feel her power course through his body. I have so
many stories like that..
I never forget the honor I have of being so close to
such a magnificent spirit as Freedom.
Hope you enjoyed this!
Feel free to share this in memory of anyone you know who has been
struck down by cancer or is still living with it
or just someone who enjoys a GREAT STORY.
Snoopes.com
http://www.snopes.com/photos/animals/freedom.asp