On my way home from a wonderful Easter dinner with my family last evening, something caught my eye on the other side of the road. In the relative darkness I noticed a large, brown lump that was twitching. When I looked closer I saw that, unfortunately, someone had hit a young deer. I immediately pulled a U-turn to get in front of the deer to protect the animal from being hit again and also to get a better look at the damage with my headlights.
Apparently, the animal must have just been struck and from what I could observe was in very bad shape. This was not a super highway or major road so I could not believe that someone would have actually struck this poor animal and simply drive off. But, that's a post for another day.
It looked like he may have been a young buck as I saw the nubs on new antlers growing on his head. However, he was indeed in bad shape. His front legs were badly damaged - I feared beyond recovery. Still, I have witnessed some deer that were hit very hard by vehicles and after a recovery period still managed to get up and walk away. But, the damage here appeared to be considerable. Still, I felt it necessary to at least give him some chance for survival. So, I got a pair of gloves from my car and did my best to move him further off the road in the hopes that maybe, just maybe, he could recover.
Unfortunately, after several painful, futile attempts to stand and escape, I realized that this poor guy was simply not going to make it. His fate was sealed So, I called 911 for the police to come, hopefully to humanely end his suffering.
I stayed by the animal trying to reassure him that he would not suffer much longer and that people cared. He would not die alone. I was surprised when an Orangetown squad car pulled up just minutes after I made the 911 call. I rolled down my window and told the policewoman that I had not struck the deer but did make the the call. She assured me that she would humanely take care of the situation.
With a heavy heart, I left finally left the scene. I did, at that point, not need to see the final outcome. Of course, it weighed heavily on me for the rest of my trip home. But, I had to let it go. I had done everything in my power to do the right thing. And, I believe that I did. We have to do all we can to not only show compassion but BE compassion. We cannot control everything. Sometimes, we have to let it go and trust in fate.
Perhaps, this was an Easter Message - life maybe finite but love and compassion never are.
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