Gliding quietly down Maryland’s South River, a kayaker suddenly froze mid-paddle.
From the thick green reeds at the water’s edge, a pair of piercing eyes stared back at him.
It wasn’t driftwood. It wasn’t debris.
It was a bald eagle — injured, exhausted, and in desperate need of help.
What the kayaker didn’t know was that rescuers had been searching for this very bird all day.
Earlier that morning, local wildlife rescuer Donna Cole had received a call about a bald eagle struck by a car along a nearby highway. A police officer on the scene had bravely stepped in to stop traffic and guide the wounded bird off the road as it stumbled toward the woods leading to the South River.
By the time Cole arrived, the eagle had vanished into a dense, thorny thicket.
“[It was] a deeply wooded area with a lot of bramble, sticky bushes that made it impossible to get the eagle and then bring it back,” Cole told The Dodo.
Knowing a land rescue was nearly impossible, Cole switched tactics. She reached out to John Flood, a board member of the Arundel Rivers Federation — and, as fate would have it, a man with a boat and a big heart.
“John was pretty much immediately up for this adventure,” Cole said.
Together, they set off by water, searching the winding shoreline under the hot Maryland sun. They spotted the eagle once — but before they could reach him, he disappeared again into the reeds.
Cole went home that night covered in scratches and mud, frustrated but unwilling to give up. Then came the call that changed everything.
Staff from Owl Moon Raptor Center told her a kayaker had just spotted the eagle again — on the opposite bank.
“It was like two miracles,” Cole said. “That the police officer found him the first time, and that the kayaker found him the second.”
Cole and Flood rushed back to the river, finding the kayaker patiently waiting beside the wounded bird. As they eased the boat through the shallows, Flood maneuvered close enough for Cole to leap into the thick mud.
“I jumped into about 2 feet of mud,” she said. “I lost a shoe, but I didn’t care — I had the eagle.”
Finally, after a full day of teamwork, sweat, and sheer determination, the majestic bird was safe.
Today, the bald eagle is recovering at Owl Moon Raptor Center, where he’s receiving expert care and plenty of rest.
Looking back, Cole says the rescue will stay with her forever.
“This was the longest, most impossible rescue I’ve ever done,” she said. “It was such a relief to finally get this bird.”
And thanks to a police officer, a kayaker, a boater, and a rescuer who refused to give up, one wild heart is getting a second chance to soar.
To help other animals like this eagle, make a donation to Owl Moon Raptor Center.
