Pet kangaroo hailed for saving farmer

A partially-blind kangaroo was hailed a hero today after helping rescue a farmer who suffered serious head injuries when he was hit by a falling branch.

The pet kangaroo banged on the door of the family’s house in Morwell in Gippsland, south east Australia, after discovering the farmer lying unconscious in a field, Rural Ambulance Victoria paramedic Eddie Wright told radio station 3AW.

Mr Wright said the man was checking his property for damage following a severe storm when he was struck by a falling branch and knocked unconscious yesterday.

The kangaroo had been adopted by the family about 10 years ago, after authorities let them care for the wild animal because it was blind in one eye.

Mr Wright said the farmer could have died if he had not been found so soon.

“The kangaroo alerted them (the family) to where he was and went and sat down next to him and that’s how they found him,” he said. “The farmer’s wife followed the kangaroo because he was acting out of character.”

Later, the farmer was named as 52-year-old Len Richards.

Mr Richards’s 17-year-old daughter, Celeste, said the eastern grey kangaroo, Lulu, stood guard over her father’s unconscious body and “barked like a dog” to get help.

“She was obviously trying to get our attention because she never acts like that,” Celeste said.

“It went on for about 15 minutes, so we went outside to investigate and we saw Lulu standing upright with her chest puffed out over Dad’s body. If it wasn’t for her, my Dad could have died – Lulu is my hero.”

The kangaroo, which has just one eye, was adopted by the family about 10 years ago when they found her in the pouch of her mother, who had been killed by a car.

“Lulu and Dad are very close and she follows him around, but we all just love her so much,” Celeste said.

The RSPCA urged the family to nominate Lulu for its National Bravery Award.

“From my point of view it’s a darn good story and I would hope that Lulu is nominated,” said RSPCA president Dr Hugh Wirth.