Nanaimo man rescues eagle after surviving fall from cliff

CHEK

James Farkas finds it easy to get lost in the ocean view off Nanaimo’s Hammond Bay Road.

“Looking out, it’s fantastic,” said the Nanaimo man.

Eight months ago he did, falling from a cliff there.

“One little step and that was it,” said Farkas.

“Gone…Took a step over and went all the way down to the bottom down there. And that’s where they pulled me up from down there,” he said pointing to the bottom of the cliff.

“Four storey fall so that’s not bad… And I’m still here.”

So still recovering from his broken femur, that now has pins in it, he returned to the cliff on May 12.

“You get back on the horse I guess,” he said.

And in a stunning coincidence found himself racing to save someone else.

“I happen to look down and there’s a commotion on the beach,”

“And I can see an eagle. Its wings were out and a bunch of turkey vultures just hammering on it.”

So Farkas jumped into action, pushing the pain of his leg aside to save that down-and-out eagle.

“It was just one of them things that hit you in the heart,” said Farkas.

“And I was like that’s it I’m down there.”

So Farkas wrapping the injured bird up in a towel and rushed it to his living room for safety before wildlife rescuers arrived to take it to the Orphaned Wildlife Rehabilitation Society (OWL) in Delta.

“The fact that everybody came together for this bird, come on,” Farkas said smiling and giving the thumbs up.

OWL says the eagle suffered a broken shoulder and there is no doubt Farkas saved its life.

“So it was great that he took the time to go and rescue the bird,” OWL’s Rob Hope.

“And get it help and hopefully in another month or two if all goes well we will be able to release him back to the wild,” said Hope.

Just the ending James Farkas is hoping for.

Skye RyanSkye Ryan

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