A nurse in Kentucky has gone viral after performing CPR on a baby raccoon that had passed out after eating fermented peaches.
Misty Combs, who works at the Letcher County health department in Whitesburg, spotted the unconscious animal in a dumpster near her workplace, reported Lex18.
Combs had arrived for work when she and her colleagues noticed a mother raccoon frantically searching for her babies. The dumpster was filled with discarded fermented peaches from a nearby distillery. Two baby raccoons had gone inside and got trapped.
Combs used a shovel to free one raccoon, which ran back to its mother. The second one was lying unresponsive in a puddle at the bottom of the dumpster.
Combs then started chest compressions. A video recorded by her coworkers shows her vigorously patting the animal on its back before flipping it over to continue CPR. The raccoon eventually regained consciousness.
The animal was later taken by the Kentucky department of fish and wildlife resources to a local vet. It was released back into the wild the following day, in the same parking lot where it had been found.
Misty Combs, who works at the Letcher County health department in Whitesburg, spotted the unconscious animal in a dumpster near her workplace, reported Lex18.
Video captured the tense moments as a Kentucky nurse performed compressions on a raccoon that wasn't breathing. See the life-saving rescue and happy release. pic.twitter.com/83AmpnhZva
— USA TODAY Video (@usatodayvideo) September 5, 2025
Combs had arrived for work when she and her colleagues noticed a mother raccoon frantically searching for her babies. The dumpster was filled with discarded fermented peaches from a nearby distillery. Two baby raccoons had gone inside and got trapped.
Combs used a shovel to free one raccoon, which ran back to its mother. The second one was lying unresponsive in a puddle at the bottom of the dumpster.
Combs then started chest compressions. A video recorded by her coworkers shows her vigorously patting the animal on its back before flipping it over to continue CPR. The raccoon eventually regained consciousness.
The animal was later taken by the Kentucky department of fish and wildlife resources to a local vet. It was released back into the wild the following day, in the same parking lot where it had been found.
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