A copper rockfish at the Vancouver Aquarium developed cataracts in his eye and had to have it removed. The sad little one-eyed guy then retreated to the bottom of the tank and was constantly picked on by his tankmates.
To help save him from the abuse, head veterinarian Dr. Martin Haulena recently performed surgery to give him a prosthetic replacement.
"Without an eye, the other fishes would act aggressively towards it for appearing sick and weak," the aquarium wrote on its blog.
They put the fish under anesthesia before the procedure, seen above.
After the surgery he seemed to fit right back in with the others.
"Ever since we put in the prosthetic the fish is right back in the mid-water column, interacting with other fish," Haulena told Global News. "He's more robust. Everybody, including the fish, seem a lot happier now."
surgery
How could you possibly improve on a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup? Why, by filling it with Oreo creme, of course (and vice versa).
Ma'ake Kemoeatu has always been on the lookout for his brother Chris. As the eldest of seven siblings, Ma'ke felt it was always his duty to look after the rest of his family - going so far as to receive a game suspension after improperly providing Chris textbooks to finish his schooling.
So when Chris began suffering greater and greater problems from his kidney - flareups and near-constant pain that nearly prevented him from playing the game and forced him to retire early - Ma'ake stepped up and provided the organ for transplant.
According to their doctors, the two brothers are recovering well. Clearly this is one family willing to step up for one another.
Ingeborg McIntosh knew she was suffering from polycystic kidney disease, what she didn't know is that her adopted son, Jordan, had already confirmed he was a match to be a donor.
The McIntosh's had many foster children over the years, but when Jordan came along Ingeborg knew instantly she wanted to adopt. And, seeing how the two have so wonderfully taken care of one another, I don't believe she could have made a better decision.
To learn more about their story click HERE.
Bentley Yoder was born with the odds stacked against him-- born with a brain outside his skull. Bentley's parents, Sierra and Dustin were told by doctors that discovered Bentley's rare condition called cranium bifidum, that Bentley was simply 'incompatible with life.'
Bentley's parents refused to quit on him though, and decided to go through with the pregnancy, 'just to see him before saying goodbye.' To everyone's surprise Bentley came kicking and screaming into this world on time, on October 31, 2015. He went on to develop normally, save for the critical parts of his brain on top his head, and left nearly all doctors at a mere loss for words over how this could be so.
Fast forward four months, and Bentley's parents were actively seeking out the nation's foremost leading authorities on the brain surgery front, with hopes to find a team capable of performing the surgery necessary to relocate parts of Bentley's brain back inside his skull.
They found Dr. John Meara at Boston Children's Hospital, who planned and practiced the pending procedure using 3D-printed models. On May 24th the surgery commenced, and finished with success six hours later.
A month after the surgery Bentley shows all signs of being just fine, but only time will tell whether things like his vision were impaired for the long run.
