When Cyclone Alfred forced a wildlife hospital to close, this rescue koala found a new place to recuperate
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Laura Leaf had a sick possum for company when she spent three nights in a spare room at Mallory Wilson’s Nerang home

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Laura Leaf, a rescued koala, was the last surgery of the day at Currumbin wildlife hospital, just hours before its doors were due to close to ride out .

But after undergoing emergency abdominal surgery on Wednesday, Laura Leaf needed round-the-clock care – and the  hospital’s intensive care unit was about to be shut.

Many non-urgent patients at the hospital were sent out to volunteer carers in the community, many part of the charity , to stay out of the cyclonic winds and torrential rains.

Likely suffering from the knock-on effects of the disease chlamydia, Laura Leaf had been brought to the not-for-profit hospital by rescue organisation Wires after being found on the ground in the Gold Coast hinterland area of Guanaba.

Laura Leaf, who also had a sick possum for company in the same spare room, spent three nights in Wilson’s home.

Wilson kept up with Laura Leaf’s pain medication and intravenous fluids but also kept the koala freshly supplied with eucalypt leaves.

“I was checking in on her every few hours and was talking to the vets,” she said. “We did lose power for a couple of hours but the fluid pumps held their charge, and we did have a back-up plan.”

Dr Michael Pyne, senior veterinarian at , said: “We knew \ wouldn’t make it without round-the-clock care. When you work in wildlife medicine, you do whatever it takes. She had major intestinal issues and we needed to monitor her closely.”

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