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Veterinarian nurse Marley Christian had rescued
the joey koala in northern New South Wales in 2017, after she
found him next to his dying mother with only three feet and a
protruding bone in place of the fourth.
"Once I put the little boot on him and he did this little jump,
then he was running around and climbing, I actually cried," she
said, explaining how Triumph became a whole new koala once the
prosthesis was attached.
"It's the best thing that ever happened, I would do absolutely
anything for this boy."
Christian had become Triumph's primary carer at the Friends of
the Koala centre in Lismore, a town 136km (84.51 miles) south of
Brisbane, while searching for a solution to his birth defect.
A U.S. company specialising in animal prosthesis tried to create
a foot for Triumph, but was unsuccessful after several attempts.
Eventually Christian found an answer closer to home. Dental
prosthetist Jon Doulman had heard of Triumph's dilemma and
volunteered to take on the case.
The resulting prosthetic is pink, with a velcro strap to help
keep it on Triumph's leg and a tread on the bottom to help the
marsupial grip while walking and climbing.
"It was certainly different," Doulman said. "It required a bit
of lateral thinking in so far as coming up with the design ...
but it was a great feeling to be able to help him."
Doulman is currently in the process of improving his design for
Triumph, but said that the koala "seems to be quite comfortable
wearing it."
Triumph, who is nearly five years old, will need to spend the
rest of his life in captivity, most likely under Christian's
care.
(Reporting by Cordelia Hsu; Writing by Melanie Burton; Editing
by Karishma Singh)
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