A firefighter from the Lakeside Fire Station is being lauded a hero after saving the life of a kitten that was found inside a burning shop in Heathfield. Grant Bougaardt, along with other rescue workers, managed to bring the tiny ginger kitten back to life minutes after it had died using CPR.
Bougaardt, a Muizenberg resident, said he would never have been able to save the kitten were it not for assistance from his team.
The baby cat was discovered lying completely still and not breathing at the back of the shop, which was engulfed by flames. Bougaardt proceeded to perform CPR on the small animal and succeeded in reviving it. Speaking to IOL, he said that all he did was give the kitten a “quick blow of air” before it began breathing again.
Once the kitten had been resuscitated, Bougaardt handed it over to a rescue worker outside the shop.
“I rushed inside and found the kitten lying on the floor. I did not think about what I did. I just scooped it up and ran out with it. I did a blow (of air) and checked for a heartbeat,” he said. “It was faint. I ran out and handed him to my colleagues Sean Evans and Genevieve Foster. They did resuscitation using oxygen and worked on it. I ran back into the building to work.”
When he made his way outside again, he was fearful that the kitty had died – his fears proved wrong when he saw it snugly wrapped in a blanket in a box in preparation of being moved to the vet.
The kitten was taken to a vet in Rosmead Avenue, and Bougaardt said he hopes to adopt it.
Picture: Pixabay