VIDEO: Injured turtle rescued at Oakville park

A hard-shelled Oakville inhabitant has a new lease on life, thanks to some quick-thinking passersby.

Amit Saxena had just finished up some work in the Hays Boulevard area Saturday afternoon (June 10) when he spotted a big turtle on the road near Oak Park.

Upon closer examination, the situation looked rather bleak.

(It) was motionless and bleeding and its shell was cracked," said the Burlington resident. I thought it was dead."

Fortunately that presumption proved incorrect when Saxena moved the turtle out of the road, with the clearly-injured animal beginning to stir.

I was very happy to see it was alive, but also very sad as it was severely injured."

Soon after Saxena was joined by Susy Borges - director of the nearby Wellspring Cancer Centre - and her two daughters, who ran to get water from their car to give the turtle.

From there, Saxena would fill the now empty bottles with water from the nearby pond, which when poured on the turtle had an immediately encouraging effort.

The result was unbelievable. The turtle revived completely and started walking towards me, looking right in my eyes," said Saxena.

The Oakville and Milton Humane Society's animal rescue team was soon called in and the turtle - dubbed Hulk' by its initial rescuers for its size and colour - was subsequently handed over to the Ontario Turtle Conservation Centre.

Saxena plans to be in touch with the group and, hopefully, be on hand for its eventual release back into the wild.

It was a great day for all of us."