Arthritis in the shoulder is painful. Thanks to the invention of an orthopedic surgeon, the turtle Helmuth is happy again.
Gelsenkirchen (dpa) – The shoulder-sick 108-kilogram spurred turtle "Helmuth" from the Gelsenkirchen Zoo is mobile again: Thanks to a special kevlar-reinforced roller board, the 24-year-old animal crawls through its outdoor enclosure in the "Zoom Adventure World" in North Rhine-Westphalia .
On Tuesday, the zoo presented the all-terrain walking aid to the public for the first time. Keepers lifted Helmuth onto the roller board, which relieves the shoulder joints when crawling, fastened two straps and the spurred turtle set off immediately – attracted by lettuce and courgette food.
The turtle has shoulder arthritis. The Bochum orthopedic technician Ulrich Schade (66) had read about it and built the roller board as a custom-made product for the animal.
© dpa-infocom, dpa: 210601-99-817798 / 2
