In a wonderful random act of kindness, a pet shop worker has helped an injured goldfish in need, and has become an internet hero in the process.
Hero Derek was working at an aquarium shop in San Antonio, US, when a customer came in with their goldfish that was suffering from a debilitating swim bladder disorder and was stuck at the bottom of the tank.
Derek whipped up some engineering magic and made a wheelchair for the tiny creature.
For those of us who don’t know the functions of a fish, the swim bladder allows the goldfish to control its buoyancy in the water. When the swim bladder is damaged or defected, the fish can become unstable in the water, and can float, sink or lie on one side uncontrollably.
Derek explained to BuzzFeed News how he created the lifesaving device.
“I got some airline tubing that people usually use in their tank and just placed it around the goldfish. I added some valves to the bottom of it, which acted as a ‘chair’ to prop him up,” he says.
“I added weights to the bottom of the ‘chair’ and something to keep him afloat on top (Styrofoam), and slowly removed pieces until I achieved just the right buoyancy to make it easy for him to swim around without feeling like he’s dragging around a chair.”
The flotation device allows the goldfish to swim around freely, and has gone through two designs to find the right one. The wheelchair was originally made from plastic tubing, but is now a more comfortable net sling.
If this isn’t the most heartwarming news of the day, then we don’t know what is.
