Greg Rutherford carries injured deer for two miles in bid to save it

Updated
22nd European Athletics Championships - Day Six
22nd European Athletics Championships - Day Six




Olympic star Greg Rutherford has told how he carried an injured deer two miles back to his house in a bid to save its life.

The gold medal-winning long jumper was walking his three dogs near his home in Woburn Sands, Buckinghamshire, when he came across the deer with a broken leg.

According to the Mirror he said: "I am a big animal fan and obviously didn't want to leave it there in pain. We were a good two miles away from my house and it would been have almost impossible for the RSPCA to get there quickly.

"So I decided to pick up the deer and take it back to my house. It's a good thing I am back in training as it took a lot of effort to carry it back. My arms were aching like I had done a full gym session."

Winter weather Dec 6th 2014
Winter weather Dec 6th 2014



When he got back to the house, his partner Susie, was said to be shocked as he was covered in deer blood.

Greg then called the RSPCA who said they would have to put the deer down if he brought it in.

According to the Daily Mail, he said: "So I found a local animal sanctuary that's also a 24-hour animal hospital. They came and put the deer's leg in a splint and took it off to recover."'

Greg kept his Twitter fans up to date with the situation, writing: "Just carried an injured deer about 2 miles home and now awaiting the RSPCA to come and help the little fella. Poor thing has a broken leg."



He then wrote: "My new best friend. This is Melvin/Doris (not sure if male or female) I hope the poor thing can be saved."



But sadly the deer was too badly injured to be saved.

Clare Campbell, head nurse at TiggyWinkles, said the deer had to be put down as it had suffered "horrific" pelvic injuries.

According to the Mirror, she explained: "X-Rays showed Doris was in a really bad way so she was put to sleep.

"We are still happy she was rescued because otherwise she would have taken days to die in agony in the wild.

"At least we were able to give her pain relief and keep her warm and dry."

Greg tweeted that he was sad to hear the news , writing:

"Really sad day today. Doris the injured deer I brought home yesterday had to be put to sleep due to her injuries."






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