Baboon's life saved with help from the Bee Gees

CREDIT: Rex Features Mandatory Credit: Photo by REX (4380630a) Four-year-old female Hamadryas baboon named Aunt Bessie Baboon bought back to life thanks to the Bee Gees, Paignton Zoo, Paignton, Devon, Britain - 21 Jan 2015 FULL COPY: http://www.rexfeatures.com/nanolink/puid The vet team at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park in Devon have saved the life of a monkey twice in one afternoon - with the help of the Bee Gees. When the four-year-old female Hamadryas baboon, named Aunt Bessie, collapsed and her heart stopped, head vet Ghislaine Sayers performed external cardiac massage - with the Bee Gees song

A vet team in Devon has saved the life of a baboon twice in one afternoon - with the help of the Bee Gees.

When four-year-old female Hamadryas baboon Aunt Bessie collapsed and her heart stopped, head vet Ghislaine Sayers at Paignton Zoo Environmental Park performed external cardiac massage - with the Bee Gees song 'Staying Alive' playing in her head.

She said: "A baboon's heart rate is similar to that of a young human - the British Heart Foundation's TV commercial used the song because it's a good prompt for the rate of cardiac massage, even for trained professionals!"

Aunt Bessie was rushed to the zoo's Vet Centre after she collapsed before Christmas.

Ghislaine said: "Aunt Bessie was brought to the vet centre unconscious. She was thin and dehydrated, with negligible blood glucose and low blood pressure causing a slow heart rate and weak pulse."

"Almost an hour after arriving at the vet centre her heart was beating steadily at a normal rate and her pulse was stronger."

The team continued to give her fluids to make sure she was fully hydrated. They also took the chance to take x-rays and give her a thorough clinical examination, taking blood samples and repeatedly checking blood glucose levels.

Ghislaine told Rex Features: "A few hours later Aunt Bessie was sitting in a warm enclosure in the Vet Centre taking food and fluids from us. She stayed in the Vet Centre over Christmas and the New Year, in the warm with plenty of extra food, lots of enrichment to play with and Houdini, the younger baboon with the injured tail, for company. Aunt Bessie put on a lot of weight over that period - probably like a lot of us!"