Koala survives 100km/h collision with car and getting trapped in radiator grille

Kenny the koala was hit at full speed, lodged in a car grille and nearly choked - but amazingly he survived. Eagleby couple Mark and Caroline Harris were driving south on the Pacific Motorway on Tuesday night when they accidentally hit Kenny near Dreamworld at Coomera about 11.15pm. Mr Harris said he mistakenly thought Kenny was a cat.



He pulled over at the next available opportunity at Hope Island to survey the damage when he got a sad shock. Kenny was stuck in front of their Suzuki Swift and plastic from the car was restricting his throat. ''He was actually choking so I went to the boot of the car and got out a tyre lever and pulled the plastic away from his throat,'' he said.

''I had to stop him choking to death.'' Police stopped to help the couple before they took the koala to the vet and transported him to Currumbin Wildlife Hospital for treatment. Kenny is recovering nicely thanks to treatment of senior veterinary staff.



Mr Harris was united with the koala yesterday morning and said they just clicked. ''He looked right into my eyes, I looked right into his and we sort of bonded,'' he said. ''I've never been that close to (a koala). It was just a connection we made. It was really special, I felt really touched.''