It was late December of last year, thankfully a few weeks before the real chill of winter would set in. In those early morning hours, the tide was rolling through Broad Creek, coaxing the birds and fish from their slumber. Today, though, an unexpected guest had found himself among the finned and feathered denizens of the water.
A small kitten was being dragged by the tide.
No one knows how he wound up getting pulled down the creek. But we certainly know what happened next.
Sirena Young and Dr. Matt Dixon perform surgery on a dog at Hilton Head Humane’s Okatie location.
“It was a staff member at Palmetto Bay Marina named Carson who first heard the kitten,” said Patrick Coughlin, owner of Lowcountry Watersports. “He wasn’t sure what it was at first, but he jumped in a boat and ran out after him.”
Not knowing what to do with it, Carson brought it into the offices at Lowcountry Watersports where the staff immediately began administering what first aid they could, getting water out of his tiny mouth and warming him with blankets. Coughlin got the call from his staff and headed over to do what he could.
“My staff had already called the vet and it was going to be pretty expensive,” he said. “I got the kitten into my car on the heated seats, and as I was headed out, I decided to make a quick call to Hilton Head Humane.”
Generally, Hilton Head Humane’s medical staff works out of the Okatie branch. As luck would have it, they happened to be on Hilton Head that day. Driving over to the Spanish Wells Road campus “at a rate of speed that would not be appreciated by some,” Coughlin pulled up to find the staff outside waiting for him.
“I had three vet techs and a vet there, and this team just went into crisis mode,” said Franny Gerthoffer, executive director of Hilton Head Humane. “They got the surgery team ready, they had the equipment on hand to warm the cat, and they just ran back to the surgery room and started working.”
As the greatest virtue of leadership is knowing when to get out of the way, Gerthoffer hung back and let the medical professionals do their thing. When she popped her head in to check on progress, she was given an inspiring reminder of the dedication her staff brings to the organization.
“I told them to save this cat, and all they could tell me was ‘We’re trying.’ Just seeing the compassion and determination on their faces, I knew they were not going to let this kitten die,” she said. “Everybody was on deck for this cat.”
Dr. Lori Campbell, the vet who happened to be there that day, was one of those determined faces.
“His temperature wasn’t even recordable when he came in. It took us an hour and a half before we could get a reading,” Campbell said. “And his poor nails were bloody and scraped down from where he’d been struggling. It took you right to the panic this poor little thing was feeling. But he was a fighter. He wasn’t giving up either.”
Slowly but surely, life returned to the kitten. His body temperature rose. He began to stir out of his semi-conscious state. The worst had passed.
“It survived that day, and then we just had our fingers crossed,” Gerthoffer said. “Now, he’s just a normal cat.”
Director of Hilton Head Humane, Franny Gerthoffer, cuddles with Jay, an adoptable six- week- old puppy.
Renamed Phelps after the famed Olympic swimmer, the kitten that was once moments away from a watery grave has a new lease on life. As proof, Gerthoffer happily shares a video of Phelps, his tiny gray tabby body poised before a reclining dog, leaping playfully to engage the bigger animal.
It’s a moment that was made possible by Hilton Head Humane’s medical team.
“They do so much, and I’m so proud of the medical team because they’re such unsung heroes,” Gerthoffer said.
And that goes beyond the “dare to be great” moments when a kitten is at death’s door. The lion’s share of the work these professionals do is less harrowing and more commonplace. But it is no less important, with the Okatie spay and neuter clinic servicing more than 6,000 animals a year.
“On a feral cat day, we can see 45 animals a day. But it’s typically around 30-35 a day between dogs and cats,” said Dr. Matt Dixon, lead vet at the Spay/Neuter Clinic.
Hilton Head Humane has branched out, serving animals not just in Beaufort County but also in Jasper County, while our neighbors build their own support system. “Working in two counties now, there’s always something,” Gerthoffer said. “When the surgeries are done, there are still animals here at the adoption center who need maintenance, or an emergency from animal control.”
It’s a heavy workload that Dr. Dixon wouldn’t trade for anything.
“Since I was a little kid, I wanted to be a vet,” he said. “Between the love of animals and just trying to serve a purpose – because what we do here is serve the community – it’s ultimately the animals that keep you going.”
It’s not always a kitten miraculously rescued from Broad Creek. Sometimes it’s a stray dog that found itself injured. Sometimes it’s spaying and neutering dozens of cats in a single day. But it’s always a labor of love for these professionals.
“They’re just such a well-oiled machine. When you think of the legalities and liabilities of running a clinic, staying overnight with animals if needed, ensuring DHEC compliance, and everything that goes along with that, they’re just always ready,” Gerthoffer said. “And they do it with such confidence. It’s a lot of responsibility. I always say we’re just a small but mighty organization doing big things, and they’re the reason why we’re able to.”
Hilton Head Humane Look Book
The CH2 crew popped into Hilton Head Humane’s Hilton Head Island and Okatie locations last month to photograph a few of the adorable animals waiting for their furever home.
Phelps
Trooper
Hazel
Neve
Sabrina
Bentley
Shrek
Red
Creampuff
Gellert with Annabelle Brennan, Newt with Brittany Bennington
Tux
Kate Gaul and River
Ralph
Lestat and Claudia
Horton
Charlie
Emma
Wallen
Elias
