Two swans have been reunited on a pond in North Wales after flying into the windscreen of an ambulance.
Thankfully neither the paramedic, his colleague or either of the swans were injured in the incident which happened on the westbound carriageway of the A55 near Abergele last Thursday (31 March).
There were no patients on board at the time of the collision.
RSPCA inspector Mike Pugh was called to the scene shortly after 6pm to find the windscreen of the ambulance completely smashed and the vehicle being loaded onto a lorry to be towed away.
The birds are thought to have flown into the windscreen as they were flying low over the carriageway, possibly on their way to a wildlife pond in nearby Pentre Mawr Park.
Both swans had initially remained next to the road, with police officers managing to corral the female bird over a fence into the safety of the park, while her mate had then moved into a nearby reed-filled ditch.
Mike said: “When I arrived, police were on the scene kindly keeping an eye on the male swan to make sure that he didn’t come out of the ditch and get back onto the road. I managed to get in amongst the reeds – getting covered in mud in the process – to retrieve him, and thankfully even though there were no obvious injuries, I decided to take him home for observation overnight.”
The next day Mike took the uninjured swan to Pentre Mawr Park to be reunited with his mate and possibly other members of his family as there were also several of last year’s youngsters on the same pond.
Mike added: “I’ve been called out to hundreds of incidents involving swans over the years, but this was the first time I’ve had to deal with a rescue involving an emergency vehicle that has ended up coming off worse. I’m just thankful that the ambulance crew and the birds were not injured as it could easily have been a different outcome. We’d also like to thank the police for their assistance at the scene which helped to ensure the male swan stayed put and was able to be caught and assessed quickly.”
Steve Williams, the Welsh Ambulance Service’s Locality Manager for Conwy and Denbighshire, said: “Bird strikes are a very rare occurrence and we’re thankful that there were no patients on board at the time of the collision and that the crew were uninjured, albeit shaken.
“We are delighted too that the swans were unhurt and have since been reunited. We would like to extend a thanks to our RSPCA and North Wales Police colleagues for their assistance at the scene – nice swan!”
