Animals lost and abandoned in the middle of cities run the risk of getting into dangerous situations and being trapped in places that they need human help to get out of. And not everyone is lucky enough to get out of it. A few days ago, the fate of Tyson Hood, an American firefighter, changed when he met Walnuts, a little kitten who had fallen and got stuck in a storm drain.

According to The Dodo, while browsing Facebook, the firefighter noticed a post from someone who didn’t know how to get the stray cat out of the manhole.

Describing himself as a “fan of animals in distress”, he knew he had to do something to help the cat and the person asking for help on the internet. So he spoke directly to the person and told him he could use his knowledge to get the animal out of there.

A firefighter saves a cat from a sewer and ends up adopting it

Tyson immediately got to work. Initially, his girlfriend warned him that the cat might be nervous and confused, so the rescue might be a bit of a hassle. However, Tyson was confident in his abilities.

The person in distress was Stephanie, a young woman who lives nearby. “She explained that she feeds him regularly, so at least he is not hungry”, he said.

After an hour and a half of rescue, Walnuts finally got out and Tyson was able to grab him. They had to use a tuna trap to catch it with a net before it could escape.

At first he was scared, but as the hours passed he realized he was safe and the firefighter was his hero. “He climbed onto my shoulders and purred as loud as I’ve ever seen a cat purr. It was flattering, but as you can imagine, he smelled horribly bad (…) I fell in love with him”, did he declare.

Since Stephanie was already planning to adopt another feline, Tyson decided to keep it. He then called it Walnut, after the street where they found it: Walnut Street.

“I feel like we understand each other, and we both had a great day when our paths crossed,” did he declare.