Sometimes life plays small tricks on people and sometimes on animals making them think that the time for death is near and suddenly with a surge of energy something happens and God grants the wish of the person or animal and gives him a chance to live again. Animals are not human beings and can not gain any insight from such experiences and escaping near death may not affect their feelings the way such an experience may do for human beings but humans have feeling and one such feeling that arises in such a situation is gratitude toward the Almighty for granting us a chance to survive and live again. The same feelings can be invoked if someone or something escapes near death in front of your eyes and although you may be safe but watching someone struggling with death and winning evokes the same feelings in human as if they themselves are fighting for their life.
I have a similar story to relate in which an animal namely a horse was caught in a life death situation rather he was nearer to death than life at the time I found him. But let me tell you the whole situation as I found it. I live in the country away from the bustle of city in a cottage which is adjacent to a farm that I manage myself. I grow vegetables on my farm, all year round of every coming season and when the harvest is ready I take my load to the nearest market where I sell my goods and come back home happy and content with my days’ labor. This is my simple life which I live and am happy with.
But getting back to my narration about the horse I rescued, one day I was going to the market in my wagon which I use for my transportation, it is a heavy vehicle designed to load goods in the back and suits me well as I have to make quite a lot of trips to the market and for this I need a reliable transport that does not betray me in the middle of my journey as the roads are long and deserted with gas stations miles apart and almost no traffic on the road.
I was passing through my usual route with my wagon full of goods to be delivered and as I passed through a turn I distinctly heard a faint sound. As I was driving slowly and thankfully which I realized later that I hadn’t opened the radio of my car which I usually do to keep myself company on the long journey, I was able to hear the sound distinctly. The cry came from a little far away and It sounded like a hauling of an animal. I was surprised as I had never seen animal wandering at this part of the country. My first thought was that it may be a dog that might have got separated from its owner and might need a lift to the nearest station.
I turned off my engine and got off the car. The voice was coming from the left side. I walked briskly as if I had been mesmerized under the spell of that calling voice. As I drew nearer I gasped with horror at what I saw. I was standing just at the edge of a deep ditch and inside the ditch a fallen horse was wounded and calling for help. The horse seemed to have been lost and not knowing the direction it was going it had fallen in the ditch. Maybe the horse was injured as it was lying down and the sound it made told of pain or maybe the its voice had turned like this due to exhaustion and frustration of being caught in a place where there was no chance of escape.
My first thought was that I should go and call for help or any rescue team to get the horse out but as I stepped back the horse looked up and there was so much of an appeal in his eyes as if he was pleading me to be there for him and not leave. It seemed that he had already given up. He seemed tired and exhausted of whatever earlier struggles he had done to come out of the ditch and there was no way to tell how long he had been held captive in that ditch. All he wanted was a companion to be there for his last moments. His look went out to my heart and I felt an inner longing to pull the horse from his desperate situation with my bare hands.
That was not possible but I resolved to help him myself and went back to my wagon and brought it off the road to the side of the ditch. I had no other plans but to try and pull him out of the ditch with a rope that I always keep in my vehicle for securing goods. It is a sound rope and if tied properly should hold the weight of the horse to the vehicle and If not then also at least I had to try. I felt desperate for some help and guidance at that time as I was neither a rescuer myself nor had been caught in any similar conditions before. But not finding any help on the ground I looked towards the sky and offered a silent prayer to the Almighty asking for help in this dangerous expedition.I tied one end of the rope to the vehicle and moved the car a bit forward then I made a loop of the other side of the rope and went to the side of the ditch again. I lowered the rope and attempted to look at the horse trying to intimate my actions to him by eye contact. The horse just looked at me with misty eyes that touched my heart and once again I resolved to rescue him at any cost.
Again I let the rope down and gestured towards the horse. He seemed to grasp my idea but was too weak to do anything to help me. Now I also felt exhausted with the effort and didn’t know what to do. I thought of going for the rescue option but then thought to give a last try. I let down the loop again and managed to get it round the animal’s neck but if I pulled now I would be the cause of horse’s death. Suddenly, the horse shook and I don’t know how but he managed to pass both his front legs through the loop. I tightened the loop across him and went back to the car. Slowly I started to move the car forward and inch by inch I pulled the horse through the vehicle.
In this way I managed to get the horse out of the ditch and laid him on the ground. I gave him water from my flask and covered him with my jacket. Then I made a check of his limbs but nothing seemed broken. After some time the horse seemed revived and got up. I moved half of my goods to the front seat and made the horse ride on the back of the wagon. I took him to the emergency unit and there he was examined and treated for shock. They fed him and gave him water and in a couple of hours he seemed full of life again. As I made my way out of the emergency unit, the horse gave me a long look. He seemed to be thanking me and I came out of the building with my eyes wet and my heart full thinking of his condition as I had seen lying in the ditch near to death. I prayed a silent prayer and felt that I had been given a second chance to life.