Some people are on duty only when they clock in, while others never get off work. In Kentucky, a long-time nurse embodied the very spirit of her profession as she saved the life of a very unlikely patient, a drunk raccoon. The story was brought to light by a video posted on YouTube, where two reporters recounted the story and interviewed the compassionate nurse.
The heroine was identified as Misty Combs. Ms Combs has served as a healthcare worker in Letcher County for over 21 years and counting. During the interview with one of the reporters, the rescuer confessed that this incident was the craziest she had experienced in her years of nursing.
Ms. Combs explained that their health department was beside a distillery, Kentucky Mist Moonshine. The distillery had disposed of some fermented peaches in the dumpster beside them. In the video that captured the rescue, Ms. Combs saw a raccoon hanging around the dumpster and realized that its babies were trapped in the dumpster. Motivated by her “motherly instincts”, she set out to bring the two raccoons out. Using a shovel, she took out one of the baby raccoons. Upon bringing the other out, she realized it wasn’t breathing, as it had drowned and was “filled with water”.
The observers kept telling the nurse that the raccoon was not going to survive. However, using her professional skills, Ms. Combs started to perform CPR on the drunk raccoon. The concern she had towards the raccoon was obvious as she performed the CPR. “Come on, baby”, she urged.
Ms. Combs did not pretend to be without fear. She confessed that though she wanted to revive the raccoon, she was scared it would regain consciousness and attack her. She was also concerned about the fact that raccoons have rabies. The heroic nurse shared that after wildlife services intervened and took the raccoon, she went back to her normal life of saving humans.
After the raccoon had sobered up, it was returned to the health department, and Ms. Combs reunited it with its mother. “The poor little raccoon, I hope it stays out of the dumpster,” she concluded. This unusual yet heartwarming incident had netizens talking. One user wrote, “The woman is a wildcat”, clearly surprised by Ms. Combs’ action.
Another user, stunned by the story, wrote, “That’s one of the wildest news stories I’ve seen in a while.” They went on to joke. “A nurse out here doing compressions on a drunk raccoon like it’s ER. Only in Kentucky”.
Sharing in the amazement, a netizen commented, “A Kentucky nurse blowing CPR into a moonshine drunk raccoon is peak Appalachian chaos. Another social media user mused, “Makes you wonder how often there are drunk animals around distilleries.”
Not all reactions were, however, glowing. One critic wrote, “Fyi- that’s not even close to proper CPR,” questioning Ms. Combs’ expertise before adding, “But I’m glad the little critter is okay.”
Finding the whole ordeal hilarious, a netizen wrote, “Only in Kentucky do you get moonshine raccoons and CPR, all in one story. Nurse saves lives so well, even drunk wildfife gets a second chance. Somewhere out there, that raccoon is nursing a hangover and planning its comeback.” Intrigued by the level of intentionality and annoyed that some humans don’t get the same, a user wrote sarcastically, “lol, not the raccoon getting better health care than most humans.”
