People often say that charity starts at home. But in the case of an Oklahoma man who rescued a sea turtle stranded on a beach, the charity started on vacation.
Steve Booker was watching the sun rise over a beach in Cozumel, Mexico when he found a motionless sea turtle next to a culvert. At first, he thought the turtle was already dead, and there was nothing that he could do for her. But when she started blinking, he sprang into action.
He rolled the enormous turtle over onto her belly, allowing her fins to reach the ground. Then, he kept watch over her as she struggled her way towards the ocean, stopping to take a rest when she did.
In a video he took of the event, which has since gone viral, you can hear him coaxing her along; “Come on, baby, you’re almost there.” The video ends with the turtle scuttling out into the waves, making a break for the open ocean as Booker exclaims, “There she goes!” At the very end of the video, he smiles at the camera, saying that the situation is, “Cozumel for you, baby, right there.”
To see what the Internet thought about the rescue, click ‘NEXT PAGE.’ And if you’re finding this uplifting, why not ‘SHARE’ on Facebook?
Booker took the amateur video on the camera he and his wife had brought along for their vacation and uploaded it to YouTube when he got back. He intended for it to be watched by a few friends, but it blew up on the internet, attracting the attention of broadcasters like the Weather Channel and National Geographic.
People are calling Booker a hero for saving the turtle’s life, but Booker is baffled by the praise. “I have the step back and think, or I would like to think that anybody else in the same location at any time seeing what I seen … would have done the same thing,” Booker told KSWO, an affiliate of ABC News. “The only difference is I don’t know if anybody would have videoed it.”
Whether or not Booker’s actions were extraordinary, they were certainly adorable, and watching him rescue and encourage this giant, beautiful creature is enough to brighten up anyone’s day. See for yourself!
