Imagine this: You’re working a shift at a hospital emergency room in Bremen, Germany, when you hear a strange tapping at the glass door. Expecting a human patient, you look up to find… a bird! Not just any bird, but an injured cormorant, a sleek black seabird, literally pecking for help.
This incredible scene unfolded recently at Klinikum Links der Weser hospital. This brave cormorant had a triple fishing hook painfully lodged in its beak. Clearly in extreme distress, it had overcome its natural shyness, seeking out the very last place you’d expect a wild animal to go for assistance.
Medical staff, quick to notice their unusual visitor, immediately called in the cavalry – the local fire department. In a heartwarming display of inter-species cooperation, firefighters and hospital staff worked together to carefully remove the dangerous hook and treat the bird’s wound.
A fishhook in a cormorant’s beak is no minor inconvenience. It causes immense pain, makes eating impossible, and can quickly lead to infection and starvation. For this reason, the cormorant’s desperate plea for help was truly a matter of life or death.
Thanks to the kindness and quick thinking of the Bremen heroes, our feathered friend made a full recovery. After being treated, the cormorant was released back into the wild, right there in the hospital park. A truly unique patient, and a reminder that sometimes, help comes from the most unexpected places – and is given to the most unexpected patients!
Source: https://www.times-standard.com/2026/02/16/injured-seabird/
