WATCH: Nurse Saves Drunk Baby Racoon By Giving It CPR

By iHeartRadio

September 8, 2025

A small racoon  looks from a cardboard
Photo: FotoEvans / iStock / Getty Images

In a remarkable rescue, Misty Combs, a nurse from Letcher County, Kentucky, saved a baby raccoon that had become intoxicated after eating fermented peaches and nearly drowned in a dumpster. The incident occurred outside the Letcher County Health Department in Whitesburg, next to the Kentucky Mist Moonshine distillery.

Combs and her coworkers noticed a distressed mother raccoon searching for her babies and discovered them trapped in the dumpster. Using a shovel, Combs rescued one baby raccoon, but the other was unresponsive and submerged in water. Despite onlookers declaring it dead, Combs began performing CPR on the raccoon, alternating between chest compressions and back slaps.

A video captured by her coworkers shows the dramatic moment when the raccoon started breathing again. "I was surprised it lived," Combs told WLEX. The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources took the raccoon to a local veterinarian, Dr. Ben Cornett, who confirmed the animal was drunk and treated it with fluids. The raccoon, named Otis Campbell after a character from The Andy Griffith Show, was released the next day to reunite with its mother and sibling.

Combs, who admitted fearing the raccoon might bite her during the rescue, expressed amazement at having saved its life. The story and video have since gone viral, drawing attention to Combs' quick thinking and compassion.

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