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Everyone loves an unlikely friendship story. Tigers and dogs. Dolphins and cats. However, you’ve probably never heard of the mechanic and seagull friendship before. Well, that’s exactly what happened to a Scottish mechanic between maintenance jobs. He found a winged companion in an injured seagull he nursed back to health. 

A mechanic in Dumbarton, Scotland has a new friend in a seagull he saved– now it’s something of a shop mascot

Bruce Garden is a mechanic in the town of Dumbarton, Scotland. It’s a timeless town a little over 20 miles Northwest of Glasgow. The town is nestled on a wide section of the River Clyde, which narrows as it feeds into the industrious and artsy city of Glasgow. As such, it’s no stranger to seagulls.

What is strange, however, is the unlikely friendship Garden developed with an injured seagull that he nursed back to health. Garden told SWNS (South West News Service) that he called animal services over a year ago to alert them to the presence of an injured seagull in a parking lot near his shop. 

Authorities told Garden to “let nature take its course.” In a stroke of either fate or spectacular coincidence, two separate patrons brought the wounded gull to the mechanic. Garden told the SWNS, “I helped nurse it back to health and named it ‘Hopeful’ in the hope it will fly again.” I’ll give you a chance to wipe the tears off your trackpad.

Mechanic Bruce Garden sits with Hopeful the seagull in his shop.
Bruce Garden and Hopeful the Seagull | SWNS

Moreover, the mechanic showed some medical acumen as he cared for Hopeful between modifications and repairs. Bruce Garden administered calcium and vitamin D to aid in the bird’s recovery. Additionally, Garden fed the seabird to help it regain its strength. “Everyone has an impression that a seagull will eat anything, but I can tell you this one doesn’t,” Instead, the Garden fed Hopeful mussels, cheese, and mints to satiate his picky companion.

Maybe Hopeful can be the shop mascot. After all, Fox News says that the shop’s customers are taking a liking to the seabird.