Notes from St Tiggywinkles: Visit from Olympian Greg Rutherford

The call came from a Mr Rutherford. He had found an injured deer and bravely carried it two miles back to his home.
Greg RutherfordGreg Rutherford
Greg Rutherford

That’s no mean feat as these deer, even a muntjac, are heavy and lively.

He was a fit, strong man, so thank goodness he was there.

Naively I did not cotton on to the fact that Mr Rutherford was a special person. Our ambulance duly picked up the injured deer, enabling us to provide the emergency medical care so vital with a new casualty suffering from shock.

The deer was soon settled into the hospital on an intravenous drip with painkillers for her fractures.

I still did not realise who Mr Rutherford was until the following morning when it hit me like a hammer as the national media homed in on us.

You have probably guessed it – our new rescuer was none other than Greg Rutherford MBE, the Olympic long jump champion and one of our greatest sportsmen.

Then, in spite of his celebrity status and his endless training schedules, he was always concerned about the deer he had rescued and named Doris.

To cap it all Greg has been to visit the hospital, much to the delight of our nurses and students.

On Saturday he even brought Susie and Milo, his baby son, to meet us all.

What a thoroughly nice man who loved shaking hands with everyone in on that day.

He spent many hours with us especially enjoying swapping anecdotes with Tim, our operations manager and his baby daughter Evie-May.

A great visit and a lifting encounter – even more so as Greg has offered his support in the future.

Related topics: