Fire crews help fallen Atlas back to his feet
AFIREFIGHTER has praised colleagues who came to the rescue of his trapped horse.
The large 28-year-old animal called Atlas fell in his stable.
Firefighters were called to Edenfield Road in Rochdale where he unable to lift himself and in great distress.
After Atlas’ owners fire service crew manager Andy Dunham and his wife struggled to help the horse right himself, firefighters sent a fire engine from Ramsbottom, the Water Incident Unit from Heywood and a Technical Response Unit from Ashton-Under-Lyne.
The front of the stables, which were bolted, had to be totally removed before firefighters were able to use large animal rescue equipment to manoeuvre Atlas from the stable and back to to his feet, with the expert help and support of Niamh Brown from Simon Constable Equine Vets.
Niamh explained to firefighters at the scene that often when horses have been lying down on one side for a prolonged period of time muscular damage occurs because of the weight of the horse squeezing the blood out of the muscle causing cramp.
It was therefore urgent that Atlas was rescued as swiftly as possible.
Niamh added: “The rescue team were amazing and I was very impressed by the efficiency of the team at moving a 900kg animal.
“I would like to thank the professionalism of the Fire and Rescue Service in such a challenging situation.”
Andy, from Bury, who coowns the horse with his wife and was on the scene throughout, said: “I cannot thank the firefighters enough.
“Even though I have been in the service for 22 years and seen some fantastic work, being on the receiving end of the great service we deliver was brilliant.
“After Niamh was able to confirm that Atlas was strong enough to survive a rescue, we disassembled part of the building and used a JCB with GMFRS large animal rescue equipment to lift the horse.
“I covered Atlas’ head and kept talking to him to keep him calm and reduce his distress throughout the complicated rescue, before we were able to rest him on his feet outside the stable building.
“Once outside Atlas was lowered to the ground he started to take his own weight and there were no signs of any lasting distress, and we are pleased to report that the vets confirm he is recovering well and is back with his mates down in the bottom field munching away on the grass.”
The incident happened at around 6.40am on Friday, February 14.