People generally see signs around the animals’ enclosures at zoos that say not to get too close. But one brave truck driver didn’t let that stop him from jumping in one to save a chimpanzee’s life.
Rick Swope, his wife, and their three kids were at the Detroit Zoo gazing at the animals when they saw two male chimps fight.
Jo-Jo, one of the less aggressive chimps who tried to remain out of the fight, fell into the deep moat. People were just standing there, not knowing what was going on, while the poor animal began to drown.
Swope then leaped into the sea without giving it a second thought. He grabbed the monkey and carried it back to safety. People who were watching were extremely astonished by what they saw.
“It was the saddest thing I ever saw,” Swope said after the rescue. The monkey had his hands up and his head above the water. He was looking at the folks. He seemed like he needed someone to help him.
During the rescue, the zoo workers kept telling Swope to go, but he never thought about completing it without Jo-Jo’s help. Swope said, “People were pointing me in the right direction.” The water was so dirty that you couldn’t see through it. I swam around on the floor. I finally found him.
It was excellent that Swope could bring Jo-Jo across a chain that was supposed to keep chimps from falling into the moat.
He appeared like he was dead, but you could see he wasn’t. He was looking at me. Swope said, “I think he knew what was going on.”
When Jo-Jo looked Swope in the eyes, it looked like he was saying thank you. That day, he understood that a man had saved his life.
“Well, I happened to gaze into his eyes, and it was like gazing into the eyes of a man. The message read, “Please help me.”
Jane Goodall from the zoo remarked about how hard Jo-Jo’s life was. Poachers killed Jo-Jo’s mom when he was quite young, so the zoo took him in.
“But you have to jump in and help if you see that look and feel it,” she said.
This is definitely one of the most dramatic rescues you’ve ever seen. Swope is a great person. He showed how brave he was by putting his life on the line for an animal.