Firefighters rescuing a horse in Illinois swept from a barn in a fast-moving flood. Photograph: Marengo Fire & Rescue DistrictsView image in fullscreenFirefighters rescuing a horse in Illinois swept from a barn in a fast-moving flood. Photograph: Marengo Fire & Rescue DistrictsHorse swept away in a fast-moving flood in Illinois rescued after eight hoursCrews from Morengo fire and rescue built a makeshift raft to get Troy, who was stuck in 15ft deep creek, safely to shore
A horse in Illinois swept from a barn in a fast-moving flood has been reunited with his owner after firefighters joined a local veterinarian in a unique, daring deep-water rescue.
Crews from the Marengo fire and rescue districts constructed a makeshift raft to move Troy, who was stranded about 600ft from the nearest shore and surrounded by a strong current of water in Coon Creek, about 60 miles north-west of Chicago.
The service posted on Facebook a number of photographs of the 4 April operation, including images of the brown and white horse looking bedraggled as it stood almost shoulder deep in water awaiting rescue.
“The horse had taken footing on a small peninsula, which limited direct access,” the post said.
View image in fullscreenFirefighters rescuing a horse in Illinois swept from a barn in a fast-moving flood. Photograph: Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts“The strong current and depth of the creek, estimated at approximately 15ft, prevented crews from simply bringing the animal straight across.”
Nicky Wessel, an equine vet, was ferried by boat to administer medication to Troy, who was beginning to show signs of hypothermia from cold water exposure.
Rescuers from several organizations, including the Wisconsin large animal emergency response technical response team, made a plan to secure the frightened horse to a boat raft and lead it gently across the creek to a roadway – from where it was taken in a horsebox for further medical care.
The entire rescue operation involved almost 50 people, and lasted about eight hours.
On Saturday, Chicago’s NBC affiliate WMAQ reported Troy’s homecoming to his farm in McHenry county, where owner Ashley Beaulieu has cared for the horse since rescuing it 18 years earlier.
“Your instinct is to want to help, and you can’t just jump in and help him, especially as your own horse, it’s awful,” she told the outlet. “Everyone was just going through different emotions trying to figure out what the next step is.
View image in fullscreenFirefighters rescuing a horse in Illinois swept from a barn in a fast-moving flood. Photograph: Marengo Fire & Rescue Districts“You could tell he was looking at us wondering why we weren’t out there helping him, and I felt so bad because I didn’t want him to think we were just watching him.”
Beaulieu said the family’s farm hand had gone to check on Troy and several other horses after a violent rainstorm the day before – and found him missing from the barn.
She said he made a couple of attempts to rescue the animal himself but was unable to, and she raised the alarm.
CBS News reported that Troy, a 20-year-old Appaloosa, is back in his barn and happily grazing on hay.
“He beat hypothermia, so that’s the most important part,” Beaulieu said. “I think that day he was so close to giving up so many times, but he pulled through.”
On Saturday, Wessel told CBS that she took hot water, hay and medication to calm Troy ahead of the rescue.
She said the horse now “looks great and certainly smells better” than it did during their first encounter in murky flood water.
