Tourist delivers fawn by caesarean after mum hit by truck

A Canadian man has been praised after delivering a baby deer on the side of a road in British Columbia after the baby's mother was hit by a car and killed.

It appears the doe was killed on impact and when Sean Steele stepped out of the car to move the body he realised the female deer was pregnant.

See also: Can you spot the deer in this photo?

See also: Orphaned baby deer and puppy become best friends

Steele told ABC News: "We were just going fishing and the lady in front of me ran over a doe so my wife and I stopped to get the doe off the road."

"And I just kind of put her down and she was kind of split in half and the uterus was out so I did a caesarean on her and pulled the fawn out, and cleaned it off and put it in the back seat of my truck."

Luckily, Sean used to raise cows and was therefore used to delivering animals.

The incident gained attention when the Northern Lights Wildlife Page, where the baby deer is now staying, posted on Facebook about what had happened.

The pictures were posted along with the comment: "Got a call today from people on vacation that had a fatal vehicle accident with a deer."

"The female deer aborted a live female fawn. That of course made for some frantic action."

"We are happy to report that the fawn seems to be unharmed and is drinking her bottle like a champion."

Sean's daughter, Stephanie, posted a video on Facebook which shows Sean holding the newborn deer as it wriggles about in his arms.

According to their website, the Northern Lights Wildlife Shelter is 'dedicated to give injured and/or orphaned wildlife a second change at survival.'

Although the shelter accepts any mammals or birds, it has become a 'haven' for bears, moose and deer particularly, so this little baby should fit right in!

A manager at Northern Lights Wildlife Society, Angelika Langen, told ABC News: "We are keeping her until the fall and then will release her into the wild."

"She is very outgoing, very friendly, she doesn't know anything else. To her we are her parents."