A teenage boy spotted a tabby cat perched high up in a tall, leafless tree on a late Saturday afternoon, on March 5. He was at Holliday Park in Indianapolis when he thought this feline looked trapped and wanted to be saved. The teen believed he was the right young man to bring the cat safely to the ground on his own—the boy was wrong.
As the sun was setting, he climbed up one of the tree’s long branches to get closer to the calm tabby, who was up 35 feet from the ground. However, the teen got stuck on a high branch close to the cat.
One bystander at the park noticed the 17-year-old with glasses, black shorts, a gray and black hoodie, and runners. He clung to the branch and sat there, with a leg on either side. The sight of the immobilized boy gave the park stroller reason to call 911. The Indianapolis Fire Department (IFD) showed up at the scene a little later, ready to save him.
A modest-sized crowd gathered to watch the ordeal, and it was even captured on video and shared on the IDF’s Facebook page.
The IDF responders consisted of a group of over a dozen men in navy-blue-uniform T-shirts or hoodies, displaying their acronym in white on their backs. Most wore helmets of different colors: red, black, blue.
One of the firefighters, in PPE, equipped with a rope, made his way up to where Owen sat waiting.
The IFD member got out a small machine saw and cut off a few small branches that were in the way.
He handed over the ropes for Owen to use. The teen then got his legs into a harness that was connected to the tree for safety. He was then lowered down safely.
It took the IFD crew an hour to get the teen back to solid ground, safe and sound.
No one was hurt from this incident. The medics onsite checked Owen for injuries but found nothing wrong except for minor scrapes.
The teen’s mother came to collect him, after checking in with the rescue team.
Meanwhile, the cat remained in the tree, looking entirely unbothered by the whole episode, showing no sign that it wanted to be rescued.
