Paralysed fox is back on its feet

Sionna is just about the luckiest fox in the world, three weeks ago she was found lying twisted and motionless at the bottom of a cliff near Ballintoy.

She was taken to the Lucy’s Trust in Lisburn to give her a fighting chance to see if she pulled through.

Olivia Kennedy at the Trust told the Star that Sionna is recovering well and is now able to stand, she said: “Three weeks later and she can now stand and she has started to move. She is coming on really well, she can’t really walk yet and she needs me to help her urinate.

“She didn’t break anything but she was paralysed from the back down. It wasn’t looking good but we decided to give her a go.”

Things were looking bleak for the poor fox after suffering such a dangerous fall - luckily she was discovered by Sara O’Neill and Al Mennie when they were out walking their dog Blyton. Causeway vet Liam McCullough was on the scene shortly after, taking the poor animal for x-rays, she was then brought to Lucy’s Trust.

Olivia said: “Once she is fit and able the plan is to release her, she would have lost her territory by now so we wouldn’t take her back to the site where we found her. After a few days another fox would have claimed that territory for her own.

“She doesn’t have to go back straight away, we do have a fox enclosure and can make another one if we need to. It is an incredible story of survival, it was a big fall.”

However this is further down the line but just talking about Sionna’s release shows how far she has come thanks to the dedicated treatment she has received at Lucy’s Trust.

Olivia added: “She did start to improve, amazingly she is continuing to be great about getting her bladder done, I think she must feel the relief, which tells me there must be some innervation and therefore some hope of function returning.”

To make a donation to Lucy’s Trust, log on to www.justgiving.com/lucystrust