Rescued parrot reunited with family - Daytona Beach News-Journal
DAYTONA BEACH -- Rafica Muhammad was fixing a doorknob at home on Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard last Monday when a gust of wind blew the door open and startled her 4-year-old macaw, Lulu. The bird took off outside and was gone.
Muhammad said she thought to herself, "if it was meant to be, she will come back." It must have been so, because the bird later turned up in a palm tree outside City Hall on Friday and was rescued by Daytona Beach firefighter Anthony Russo.
Muhammad and Lulu reunited at Fire Station 1 downtown Saturday. A niece had contacted Muhammad after seeing Lulu on the news.
"I was very happy," said Muhammad. "When I heard that she was found, I just prayed."
Muhammad said she had trouble sleeping Friday night after she heard about her bird.
Lulu, who looked a little roughed up after five days on the streets, went home to a special meal and will be the center of attention at a party today with the rest of the Muhammad family.
Muhammad said she was very thankful to the Daytona Beach Fire Department for saving her winged friend.
"They are good helpers," she said Saturday with a tear in her eye.
Muhammad has a special place in her heart for firefighters now more than ever. She has a grandson who is a firefighter in Orlando.
This wasn't the first animal rescue for the Daytona Beach Fire Department. "We rescued some ducklings out of a holding tank a few months ago, using confined space rescue," said Lt. Larry Stoney, spokesman for the Daytona Beach Fire Department.
"Medical calls, emergencies and fires take precedence over an animal," Stoney said, "but if we are able to and it doesn't endanger the firefighters' lives, we are more than happy to make the rescue."
Muhammad vowed to return to the station with a home-cooked meal for the firefighters who saved her feathered friend.
25 Sep, 2011--
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