A frostbitten calf found freezing to death in a Virginia field is back on the move after getting his very own set of "magic legs."
Just like Lt. Dan in "Forrest Gump," Hero is now able to walk again entirely unaided after vets built him two rear prosthetic limbs.
KAGS
Hero the cow was given two rear prosthetic legs by Texas A&M’s veterinary school.
The baby cow arrived at Kitty Martin's Selah Ranch All Animal Rescue, in Greenville, after being found abandoned in April 2013.
With a severely frostbitten tail and back legs, he had to have his rear hooves amputated.
KBTX
Kitty Martin is Hero’s owner and ‘loved him that much to take a chance’ on trying to save him rather than slaughtering the calf.
Martin quickly set about contacting several vets to try and arrange for the quarter-ton animal to be treated.
After numerous dead ends, Texas A&M's vet school finally answered her desperate appeal for help.
KAGS
Martin hopes Hero can work with wounded warriors and children with special needs. ‘He’d be an encouragement to people,’ she said.
Martin didn't know whether Hero would end up being put down and even almost lost him as he was transported to College Station, Tex., in November.
"But I loved him that much to take a chance," she told KAGS TV.
KAGS
Hero had to have his hooves amputated after suffering from frostbite in April 2013.
Incredibly, Hero managed to survive the journey and underwent a successful surgery.
Dr. Ashlee Watts, assistant professor of Large Animal Surgery at Texas A&M, told KAGS that her team was able to get healthy skin to cover the whole bottom of Hero's stumps.
"We also were able to bring the tendons around so that we had a nice cushion so that it wasn't bone on skin touching the prosthetic," she added.
With Hero now walking on his own prosthetic legs, Martin said she couldn't be happier.
"I'm amazed and I'm pleased and this is the best dadgum school in the world in my opinion," she added to KBTX.
"I'm just excited for his future. I want him to work with wounded warriors and children with special needs. I think everything he's been through and the spirit he's come through everything, he'd be an encouragement to people," she added.
