We’ve seen plenty of stories about pets getting special wheelchairs and even prosthetic limbs, but this is the first time that we’ve ever seen someone go so far out of the way for a fish. When 19-year-old Taylor Nicole Dean, an employee at fish aquarium employee in San Antonio, Texas, was brought in a fish with a bladder disorder that prevented it from getting around the bowl, she snapped into action.
While most people would have given up on the inexpensive pet and suggested a toilet-side funeral, Taylor MacGuyvered together the underwater equivalent of a wheelchair for the little guppy.
The challenge that he had to overcome was the fish’s inability to float. His fix involved using a few small tubes to hold the fish in place and a small piece of Styrofoam (attached with string), to provide just the right amount of buoyancy. Not only was the contraption a success, but she’s managed to upgrade it so that it now includes a piece of mesh that makes it even more comfortable for the fish!
