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Hawk given second chance at life after being rescued by Anderson County Innovation Academy
ANDERSON COUNTY, Tenn. — Earlier this month, students and staff at Anderson County Innovative Academy heard a thump on their glass door. When they came outside, they found a Sharp-shinned hawk unconscious on the ground.
"Ms. Fink, one of our other teachers, brought him into a storage room in a box and wrapped him up in some cloth, and he looked awful," Jeff Harshbarger, Principal at ACIA, told 10News.
The staff decided to try to save the bird, so they called the Owl Ridge Raptor Center to determine how to care for it until they could get help.
"He had a collision with a glass (door) while he was hunting, and looked pretty bad when he came into care," Lisa Thomison, director of the Owl Ridge Raptor Center, said.
However — at first — they weren't sure if the hawk would make it.
"His beak was bleeding on both sides, his eyes were closed, and he was not moving at all," Harshbarger said.
Staff at the raptor center says they were successfully able to bring the hawk back to health and release him back home.
"We gave him anti-inflammatories for a couple of days, supported him with fluids and liquid nutrition," Thomsion said. "And then after a couple of days, he kind of started slowly coming around and eating on his own. So, he is 100% healthy now and ready to go as you just saw."
The school said that the rescue of the hawk was somewhat symbolic, as ACIA's goal is to help students who may be having a hard time with school get across the finish line.
"Just, our program itself is all about helping students," Harshbarger said. "So, if someone comes through our door, we're going to try and get them back out through graduation or hopefully in this case flying away."
And the hawk, which the class lovingly named "Phil the Phoenix," is a perfect representation of their efforts.
"A lot of our students come from situations where life's been difficult for them, and they're having a tough time," Harshbarger said. "So it's very much like they're rising up from the ashes, and it seems like Phil is doing the same thing."