Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/580873
maltatoday, SUNDAY, 4 OCTOBER 2015 6 News MARTINA BORG TAMA the turtle was found se- verely wounded, floating off the island of Comino, its wounds fes- tering and teetering close to death, after being struck by a propeller. However, no matter how desper- ate her injuries seemed, the group of dedicated volunteers at Nature Trust Malta, persevered where very few might have. Now, a couple of weeks away from her rescue, Tama has already had positive results and is showing improvement on her long road to full recovery at the tanks at St Lu- cian's Tower in Marsaxlokk. "Although it's too early to be sure of her full recovery, she has so far responded promisingly to the treatment she is being given," Nature Trust Malta president Vin- cent Attard told us during our visit to the tower. He also explained that the nature of her wounds was so extensive that she had had one of her flippers amputated. Attard explained that the organi- sation treated euthanasia as a last resort, and that it often persevered in caring for animals against the odds. "We have a 71% success rate, which is very high, particularly when you consider the limited re- sources we have," he said. Attard recalled, a particularly long-term and disheartening case, where a turtle had been shot in the head and subsequently suffered extensive brain damage. "Ulysses, the turtle in question, was never released in the wild again because he was no longer ca- pable of catching his own food, or even of maintaining proper coor- dination. In short the incident led to a severe disability," Attard said, adding that the turtle had sadly died in captivity after contract- ing pneumonia due to cold winter temperatures. "Cases like this are one of the many reasons we desperately need our own Wildlife Rehab Centre," Attard said, pointing out that such a centre would allow the organisa- tion to have more state of the art equipment and better care for re- covering turtles or prolong life as far as possible. The organisation also handled rehabilitations and rescue projects for hedgehogs, bats, snakes, chameleons and on rare occasions, dolphins. Attard explained that the initial treatment of smaller animals was normally carried out at the vet- erinary clinic followed by short periods of recovery at volunteer's homes (under MEPA permit). Attard also explained that a col- lapsible pool would be kept at the new centre to cater for dolphins or larger animals if the need arises, though he added that dolphin rescues are very rare, and that the organisation had received two calls for the animals in the past, but that it had only reached one of them alive, and that the res- cued baby dolphin had later given in to a heart condition it suffered from. "The most common calls we get are for hedgehogs," he said, outlin- ing that the vast majority of the calls concern hedgehogs that were hit by cars passing in rural areas at night. He added that hedgehoglets require a specific kind of milk, for instance, which highlights the im- MATTHEW AGIUS A motorcyclist who lost his right arm in a collision with a traffic barrier has taken Transport Malta to court, claiming that it had in- stalled barriers whose design had been described by the European Parliament as "a death-trap for motorcyclists" precisely because it was known to cause such injuries. 59-year-old John Baldacchino suffered a 60% disability when his Yamaha XJR 1300 skidded into the guard rail as he was negotiating a bend, heading towards Hal Far along Aviation Avenue in Gudja on 6 December 2014. The motorcyclist was at the time driving with his son as his passen- ger, as they were heading towards Hal Far. When they came to a bend, Baldacchino overtook a line of motorcycles, and in so doing lost control of his motorcycle with the result that it went to the other side of the road. His son only suffered bruises, while Baldacchino collided at some distance away with the iron railing. Baldacchino underwent emer- gency surgery on his shattered right limb involv- ing several vein grafts and fixations on the fractured bones, however good circulation could not be restored and his right arm had to be amputated at the shoulder six days later. Baldacchino, who was right- handed, was forced to learn to write, feed himself, use a compu- ter and cope with life without his dominant limb. Documents seen by this news- room indicate that although Bal- dacchino had been in danger of dying, duty magistrate Gabriella Vella had declined to hold a mag- isterial inquiry as no third parties were involved or damages caused to government or private prop- erty. Baldacchino had sent a letter requesting damages to Transport Malta back in February and after this was ignored, filed a judicial protest a month later. When the government authority also failed to respond to this, Bald- acchino filed a case for damages. A 2011 European road safety report, adopted by the European Committee on Transport and Tourism in June of that year, had called on national authorities to design their roads in a way which would be non-hazardous to mo- torised two-wheeled vehicles. Point 64 of the motion reads as follows: "the standard guard rails used on European roads are a death trap for motorcyclists, and calls on the Member States to take prompt action (including replacing the existing guard rails) to refit dan- gerous stretches of road with rails with upper and lower elements as well as with other alternative road barrier systems, in accordance with Standard EN 1317." The sworn application, filed in the First Hall of the Civil Court by lawyer Carlos Bugeja requests the court declare Transport Malta solely responsible for the damages suffered by Baldacchino and award him damages and interest. magius@mediatoday.com.mt Motorcyclist who lost his limb in accident sues Transport Malta for damages 'Death-trap' barrier cost motorcyclist his right arm A 2011 European road safety report had called on national authorities to design their roads in a way which would be non-hazardous to motorised two-wheeled vehicles. Giving wildlife a second chance: Nature Trust's rescue One of the four turtles currently being treated by Nature Trust receiving a bath from a Nature Trust volunteer