Cathy Howard and her teenage daughter were on their way to school a few days ago when they spotted some kind of animal turning in circles on the road. At first, they didn’t know what was going on.
Howard’s daughter quickly realized that the animal was an old opossum — and he wasn’t doing well. Even though they were running late for school, she asked her mom to pull over to see if she could help. Howard, focused on getting her daughter to school on time, was hesitant at first, but eventually agreed to stop for the opossum.
“Before I could even get to a good stopping point, she was already opening the door,” Howard told The Dodo.
Determined to help the frail opossum, the empathetic girl picked him up using a blanket then wrapped him up and took him in the car with her. She decided to name him Thomas Jefferson.
As soon as she had Thomas in her arms, he calmed down immediately.
“[My daughter] has a Disney princess aura,” Howard said. “All animals just seem to really love her.”
After she made it to school — just a bit late — she explained to her school’s administration that she was late because she needed to help an opossum. While they didn’t consider that an excused absence, she still thought it was worth it.
Howard dropped Thomas off with Tisha Raiford, director of Louisiana-based Geaux Wild Rehab.
Raiford immediately rushed the distressed animal to the vet, who came to the conclusion that the opossum had been circling because of severe dehydration and emaciation. He also had a small toe injury that needed attending to.
In the days since Thomas arrived at the wildlife rehabilitation center, he’s been slowly healing and adjusting.
“He is eating really well and drinking,” Raiford told The Dodo.
You can watch Thomas Jefferson’s full rescue journey here:
Raiford is going to keep caring for him until he’s ready to return to his natural habitat.
While people might assume that a teenager would want nothing to do with an opossum, thanks to Howard’s brave, compassionate daughter, Thomas Jefferson will get a second chance.
