While doing some reading about the river Liffey here in Dublin I came across this story that's weird, heartwarming, and sad all at the same time.
Last month an 18-year old man grabbed the pet rabbit of homeless John Byrne (38) and threw the helpless animal into the river Liffey. John jumped off the O'Connel bridge and rescued his rabbit named Barney. It took about 40 minutes for John, and the rabbit, to be rescued themselves: The river is quite a bit below street level in that area, and there is no easy way to get back up from it.
The young man who committed the crime was charged with animal cruelty and abusive behavior to the gardai who arrested him. John got offered a job at an animal farm for showing such compassion.
You can read the story here and here. This article has a video of the rescuer being rescued.
When I read this article I didn't know what to think. When I first encountered the story, it wasn't clear where the rabbit had come from. Then, who would do such a thing? Why? Who is that homeless person? Strange, but nice; I think.
News articles in Europe often include the age in parenthesis after the name of the people mentioned in the article. Sometimes a story makes more sense when you know how old the people are participating in it. Not this one, though.
Sometime the river Liffey flows backward, uphill! When the tide in the Irish Sea rises, it pushes the river water back inland.
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