01/03/2026
On Sunday afternoon 22/2/26 Crews from Wyre Forest Fire Station , Worcester Fire Station SRT /Boat crew and Bromyard Fire Station's Large Animal Rescue team, were called to rescue a horse called Mitchell that had got into the River Stour after slipping down the embankment he was unable to get himself out.
The owner had already called for a vet from Connaught House.
On arrival of the first crew they found Mitchell in fairly deep fast flowing water but stood on the side of the river. When Carrie the vet arrived we discussed a rescue plan it wasn't possible to walk or swim him to safety so we agreed the safest way was to lift Mitchell to safety from his current position. To do this we needed the help of a local farmer with a tele handler, which the owner was able to arrange. Before we could lift Mitchell out he was going to need to be sedated and the SRT sled was used to get Carrie into position so that she could administer this via IV injection.
We were able to get the strops around Mitchell and as soon as the sedation was administered and taken effect he was quickly lifted out of the water and carried across the field to a safe place where he was assisted to stand, he was covered in some rugs to keep him warm, after about 30 minutes he was able to walk back to his stable.
Where Carrie carried out a full assessment of him, plus she visited again the following morning and she confirmed that he was in good health and back to his normal self.
Thanks to everyone that took ok art in this challenging rescue, we achieved a brilliant result as a team