Young hero who saved 33 tortoises from fire has a bright future
INSTEAD of fleeing for his life, Corné Uys, a young man still in high school, braved the smoke and ferocious flames that ripped through Betty’s Bay to save 33 tortoises.
He says he wishes he could have done more. Young man, you have the brightest of futures ahead of you because you carry what no one could ever take away from you – character, compassion and the guts to act.
Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts – The Animal Sanctuary @ Butterfly World. (If you read this and know Corné, please tell him he and his dad can collect a family year ticket from us. We would love to meet them).
Here is Corné’s own story about the day.
“Finally have wifi to be able to post this. What a crazy two days it has been. Pretty much the whole area of Hermanus was a burning furnace. People being evacuated and houses nearly burning down.
“We were evacuated from school because the fire came too close. As soon as I came out, myself and my dad, Hugo Uys, jumped into action.
“For the next three hours I was in and out of the fire, rescuing tortoises and other wildlife.
“Out of the hundreds who burnt, I managed to save a total of 33 tortoises while my dad drove me up and down through the chaos of people and blazing fires. Power has been off for the past two days from the fire.
“The fire was devastating throughout the whole mountain range and I wish I could have done more.
“Luckily we managed to save a handful and we released them this morning into the nature reserve.”
“Prayers have been answered when it started raining yesterday evening. Most of the fire has been put out, but some of the mountain is still burning in the valley.
“RIP to all the animals who lost their lives. Huge thank you to our amazing firefighters who protected the houses from burning to the ground.”