A baby raccoon that became drunk from eating fermented peaches and nearly drowned in a dumpster was rescued by a Kentucky nurse who performed CPR on the animal.
Misty Combs, a registered nurse who works at the Letcher County Health Department in Whitesburg, said she and some colleagues recently spotted a panicked mother raccoon running through the parking lot.
They investigated and discovered the mother’s two babies were trapped in a dumpster belonging to a neighboring distillery, Kentucky Mist Moonshine.
Combs was able to lift one of the babies to safety with a shovel, but the second was face-down in the water at the bottom of the dumpster.
“Everybody around was like ‘It’s dead, it’s not breathing.’ It had drowned and it was full of water, you could feel the water, so immediately, I just started doing CPR on it,” Combs told LEX 18 news.
A video shows Combs doing chest compressions on the raccoon and periodically turning it over and slapping it on the back.
Combs said she was relieved when the raccoon suddenly started breathing.
Kentucky Fish and Wildlife personnel took custody of the raccoon and brought it to the Isom clinic of veterinarian Dr. Ben Cornett.
Cornett confirmed the raccoon was indeed drunk. He administered fluids and kept the raccoon overnight to sober up.
The raccoon, dubbed Otis Campbell after the infamous town drunk from The Andy Griffith Show, was returned to the parking lot the following day, and Combs was given the opportunity to release it back into the wild for a reunion with its mother and sibling.
“I was surprised it lived, and so it was just it was amazing to see something that I helped bring back to life,” Combs told WYMT-TV.
