When staff noticed Arnold was limping and falling over, they brought him in for an test and discovered that he had 2 open cracks on his foot.

While they do not recognize for certain just how this happened, they believe a Snapping turtle or other predator attacked him while he was swimming.

They recognized if they wished to save his foot, they would have to perform surgery and a partial amputation. They placed Arnold on pain medications and antibiotics and prepped him for surgery, but they never expected what happened next.

Prior to his surgery, team heard a tapping at the clinic door. When they went to take a look at what it was, they were pleasantly amazed to find Arnold’s mate trying to get into the clinic. Unbeknownst to them, the mate somehow located Arnold and was demanding to see him. She stayed at the doorway during the whole surgery, never leaving Arnold’s sight!

Fortunately, Arnold’s surgery was a success and his foot will heal in time. When he woke up from anesthesia, they brought Arnold to the door so he could see his friend, whom team called Amelia. They opened the door, and Amelia began brushing him. A calming presence came by both of them when they were rejoined.

Arnold needed to stay under their treatment while his foot recovered so they can remain to change his bandages and maintain a close eye on him. Amelia continued to visit the door daily, and staff would bring Arnold near her so they could see each other. They even set up a temporary pen so both love birds can share a meal with each other!

When Arnold was healthy enough, he was returned to the wild. Amelia was right there waiting on him, and they took off together for a swim in the pond.

” We are not sure what they will do next, however we are so happy that they have the opportunity to do it with each other,” the center wrote on Facebook. “Arnold’s foot has actually healed well and today we got to see him both fly and swim. We are confident that he will certainly have no trouble keeping up with his partner Amelia.”