Video: Lucky duck struck by car survives between grille and radiator
Kees Herweijer was driving his Toyota Auris hybrid wagon up the N214 in Wijngaarden, Zuid-Holland at 80 kilometers per hour when he spotted two ducks suddenly attempt to cross the road right in front of him. Realizing it might be possible to at least save one of the two ducks, he hit the brakes and swerved.
"I hope you are still alive," he thought to himself after hearing an impact with one of the ducks. He expected to see a dead duck in his rearview mirror, but that was not the case, he told NL Times. "I look in the mirror and I see no duck.
I said, "What? Where is the duck?" He pulled into a filling station and was startled to find the duck jammed in-between the grille connected to the car's bumper, and the radiator. "What do I do now?" he asked.
Very cautiously, he got back behind the wheel of his car and drove seven kilometers to a Toyota dealer in Alblasserdam. An animal ambulance met Herweijer at the dealership. Mechanics there pulled the bumper off the car to get to the blessed bird.
"The duck was confuzed and dizzy" after it was removed from the car, Herweijer said. "I hope the duck stays alive forever!" The duck is reportedly doing well, and is being looked after by staffers at a nonprofit organization that cares for injured birds found in the Rotterdam area.