You’ve gotta love stories where the little guy triumphs. Although in this case, the “little guy” is a 70-pound tortoise.
His name is George Bailey and he was rescued from an exotic animal facility in Knoxville, Tennessee by a woman named by Jaime Loebener. George was born with a metabolic bone disease, so he doesn’t have fully-formed back legs. Instead of walking, he drags himself around – or he did, until a New Hampshire-based pet mobility company called Walkin’ Pets created a custom wheelchair for him.
“He uses his front legs to pull his way around slowly and clumsily. The bigger he’s gotten, the more difficult this has been for him,” Loebener was quoted as saying in a Walkin’ Pets press release.
George is 11 years old, which might sound old for an animal, but in fact Sulcata tortoises like him can live up to 100 years – and continue to grow during that time. He could eventually tip the scales at over 200 pounds.
That’s why Loebener started researching how to get George mobile again. She heard how Walkin’ Pets had made a wheelchair for a smaller tortoise in the past, so she reached out to the company – and was overjoyed when it agreed to create an adjustable contraption just for him.
It didn’t take George long to get the hang of walking in a wheelchair. By all accounts, he took to it immediately and has been tooling around like a brand-new tortoise. Just look at him go!
In a sense, we are all George the tortoise, learning how to use our legs and get around again post-pandemic (aka the longest period of inactivity and depression most of us have ever known). It seems we all have something to “shell-ebrate” right alongside George.
Cover Photo: Walkin’ Pets
MORE NEWS:
Entertainment News 6 1 21
-
Channing Tatum Posts Nude Instagram, Apparently Has an 8-Pack That Leads to His ‘Lost City of D’
-
Kim Kardashian Fails First-Year Law Exam, Court of Public Opinion Says Stick to What You’re Good At (Which Remains the Real Mystery)
-
‘Basic Instinct’ Releases X-Rated Version For 30th Anniversary (Wait, So the First One Wasn’t X-Rated?)
-
‘Stillwater’ Trailer Reminds Us That Not All Heroes Wear…Jesus Christ, It’s Jason Bourne
-
Courtney Cox and Matthew Perry Apparently Cousins According to Genealogists, Now That Is the ‘Friends’ Reboot We Need
-
Alex Rodriguez Launches Makeup Line For Men, Seeks to Normalize Masculine Care (Ballsy Move, Pretty Boy)
-
Justin Bieber Shaves Head After Dreadlocks Backlash, We’re Not Sure It’s an Improvement
-
Mandatory Questions: Where Does Trevor Noah Stash All Those Quarantine-Style Hoodies While Living in New York?
-
Mandatory Movies: 10 Inspiring Movie Characters Who Served in the Military
-
Central Perk No More: How ‘Friends’ Characters Would Actually Be Doin’ Today (If We Got The Scripted Reunion Everyone Wanted)