A disaster relief worker has adopted the cat whose life he saved after it was knocked unconscious by smoke and ash from the ongoing Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption.
Video footage shows how Corporal Juan Carlos Nunez of the Military Emergencies Unit, a branch of the Spanish Armed Forces, performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and cardiac massage on the motionless cat through a plastic filter.
The cat had been floored by smoke and ash from the Cumbre Vieja volcanic eruption on the island of La Palma in the Spanish region of the Canary Islands, which began on 19th September and is ongoing.
Not only did Corporal Nunez successfully revive the feline, but he went on to adopt it, naming it Laguna in homage to the town of La Laguna, which has seen hundreds of houses destroyed by the lava flow from the eruption.
After Nunez revived the cat, it was tended to by a team of veterinarians currently working with animals affected by the eruption until it was well enough to return home with its new owner.
Corporal Nunez and Laguna are now back together again after the former completed his fortnight-long mission on the most north-westerly Canary island.
The ongoing Cumbre Vieja eruption has reportedly seen 7,000 people evacuated and 670 hectares (1,656 acres) of land covered by lava.
Over 1,100 buildings have been destroyed and the lava flow, which has completely engulfed the town of Todoque, has reached the sea, forming a new peninsula.
(@HomusCanterus82/Newsflash)
A kitten rescued from the ashes of La Palma by a member of the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (UME) who gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and later decided to adopt her.
(@HomusCanterus82/Newsflash)
A kitten rescued from the ashes of La Palma by a member of the Spanish Military Emergency Unit (UME) who gave her mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and later decided to adopt her.
(@HomusCanterus82/Newsflash)
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Story By: William McGee, Sub-Editor: William McGee, Agency: Newsflash
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