Ageing goldfish given new lease of life with a 'life jacket'

These days, it is not uncommon to see injured and ageing animals being given a new lease of life with artificial limbs - some are even state-of-the-art 3-D printed ones.

But how do you help a two-decade-old gold fish struggling on its side at the bottom of the tank, possibly living out the last days of its life?

Give it a new pair of fins so that it can swim again? Easier said than done.

A London man came up with a cool idea that doesn't require sophisticated science or invasive surgery to rescue his girlfriend's pet goldfish to get on its feet...er...fins again.

Moved by the debilitating condition of the 23-year-old fish, Aidan Cramer, came up a simple flotation device that has helped the fish to swim around upright without sinking to the bottom of the small tank all the time.

The 'life jacket' for Sally - that's the name of the fish - is made of materials that one would not associate with life rescue - a piece of cork, the kind used for wine bottles, and a thin strip of fabric trimmed from an old bikini.

Cramer, who put up a Youtube video of the goldfish in the life jacket, wrote in the accompanying note: "For the past few months she was stuck on the bottom of her tank. It was heartbreaking. So I made her a little life jacket and now she's killing it!'"

Published on Nov 21, the video has pulled in 235,000 views, with many viewers applauding his idea and humane effort.

And Sally isn't the only goldfish that has created a splash in social media.

Last year, a four-year-old goldfish named Einstein enjoyed the limelight when it was fitted with an underwater "life jacket" made of recycled tubing so that he could wobble around normally. He suffered a "swim bladder" infection which had severely curbed his mobility.

But Einstein isn't an ordinary fish: He can perform tricks, like swimming through hoops, when his master directs with a wand.

chenj@sph.com.sg

[embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0KPLDpqlQhI[/embed]

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