I was a maintenance worker at a mental health system and received a call from one of the facilities about a kitten that was trapped in a large pipe. Being an animal lover, I rushed over and found this little fellow in a four inch pipe that was buried and had a small stranded string for pulling cable to a nearby generator that was soon to be installed. The kitten was crying out loudly, and I was wondering how to get him out. The lady that called was with me. We knelt down beside the buried pipe, and could see with my flashlight that it went down about four feet in the ground and turned. The kitten was at the bottom, and I began pulling gently on the string in the pipe, talking to the kitten, and praying out loud. I could feel a bit of weight on the string as I pulled on it, and knew that he was holding on as I was pulling. Somehow the small kitten miraculously held on to the string as I slowly and carefully pulled him all the way to the top of the pipe and got him out. He was wet, dirty, and cold, but we cleaned him up, wrapped him in towel, and got some milk replacement formula for him. I adopted him and named him Sir Edmund Percival Hillary, after the first man to reach the top of Mt. Everest, because he held on all the way to the top and helped with his own rescue as much as we did! He is now about eight years old and a big healthy boy that my wife and I have spoiled rotten.

Kevin Kaminer
GILBERT, SC