Randy the Rhino’s Story
I’d like you all to meet Randy the Rhino. While I’ve had patients who’ve traveled the world with their people, I think Randy gets the most traveled medal. He has traveled over a million miles on the hood of his person’s big rig! Here he is in days of past glory:
Unfortunately, Randy had a little accident. He slipped, and before his person could stop and get him, another vehicle had run him over. Here he is when he arrived at the stuffed animal hospital for repair. He was carefully bundled. What you can’t see is his people actually used a balloon as part of his padding. I thought that was a great idea!
and dressed:
As you can see, he had major face damage. Once his clothes came off, you could see he also had lower spine damage, and that previous injuries were held together with duct tape:
Randy’s people wanted to keep him as close to original as possible. They opted for facial reconstruction and wound repair. He also needed new horns and a new tail transplanted. There wouldn’t be a spa, because he was planning to go right back out on the road.
I kept some of his duct tape… removing it would have caused more damage than not, and it was part of his personality. His new skin was black, of a similar velour to his original skin. The idea is for it to fade to match over time, as he has direct sun exposure. Here he is after surgeries:
Randy made it home in time for Christmas. His person’s daughter (who is the one who sent him to the hospital) said:
He looks great thank you for all the work you did!
Here’s hoping Randy travels another million miles along America’s highways. If you see him on the road in passing, don’t forget to say hi!
