Ted’s excellent adventure
New life as a TV star for bear rescued from sea bed
WHEN young Ted was rescued from the bottom of the ocean he was in a woeful state, and had to be admitted to intensive care.
But the specialist team tasked with restoring his health didn’t give up easily. They spent five weeks patiently tending to him, and after removing his innards, restuffing him, giving him a nose job, new paws and six baths, a pristine Ted was ready to face the world anew.
Now known as Scuba Ted – after being rescued by scuba diver Aoife Brown off the West Cork coast – he will tell of his adventures in his new role on RTÉjr’s Storytime.
Scuba Ted had been lying 13 metres under water for quite some time when Aoife, who was diving off the Oceanaddicts Liveaboard boat, spotted him.
She said: ‘My dive buddy’s torch caught a shape about 13 metres down which wasn’t a rock or sea creature and was covered in a thick layer of silt so I very gingerly lifted it up to reveal a somewhat worse-for-wear teddy bear.
‘Now the rule when diving is “take only photos, leave only bubbles” but I couldn’t leave him behind so I tucked him under my arm and brought him back to the safety of Kinsale harbour. Scuba Ted had to stay on deck drying out because he smelled very briny.’
From Cork, Ted was brought to the Doll Hospital in Dublin for expert care. ‘They love a challenge so I brought him in and he was an in-patient for five weeks. They did a superb job.’
Once he was well, Scuba Ted went diving in the Canaries and updated his adventures at https:// www.facebook.com/scubated.buddybear. Meanwhile Aoife’s fellow divers Graham and Anne Ferguson of Oceanaddicts have supplied stunning shots of marine life for the RTÉ show. Aoife added: ‘We had a great day in studio recording Storytime. Presenter Muireann Ní Chíobháin wrote a lovely script and the set looked cracking.’ Viewers can see the results on RTE2 on December 28 at 8.05am.