Inspiring Tale Of A Bald Eagle’s Recovery In Wisconsin

As we celebrate our country's Independence this week, there are a lot of things that come to mind surrounding the 4th of July. Many of those are more of the, for lack of a better term commercial variety. Fireworks, picnics or going to the lake, and gathering with friends for family. 

But the freedoms that most of us take for granted every day are what the holiday is based on. The biggest symbol of that is of course the American flag.  

I’d say coming in second as far as symbols of our country and freedoms we have is the Bald Eagle.  

So, it should be no surprise that this week we learned that a Bald Eagle found in Wisconsin last September that was severely injured and in critical condition took flight again recently.  

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Meet Kere, The Bald Eagle

The Eagle named Kere was found in Hayward Park in Hayward Wisconsin with her leg torn open from her knee to her ankle. The Eagle also had an infection setting in on the wound as well.  

Fortunately for "Kere" she was near Dr. Kim Ammann, DVM and the founder of Wisconsin’s Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital who accessed the injuries and devised a plan to get her back to health.  

An Innovative Course Of Treatment

Dr. Ammann exhausted all the normal options for an injury this severe and turned to a company called "Kerecis" that uses intact fish skin to serve in tissue regeneration.  

This was the first time that this type of skin graft was used on a Bald Eagle and the company provided the materials at no cost for Kere’s treatment, which took ten months to complete before Kere was ready to fly on her own again.  

The Eagle was released back to the wild on June 22nd. 

Dr. Ammann treated 75 Bald Eagles last year along with 125 other birds that needed her care. The Winged Freedom Raptor Hospital has a mission to help protect Americas most iconic birds.