- By Susie Rack
- BBC News, West Midlands
Chris Oxlade-Arnott scaled the cliff with the ewe on his back
A man who rescued a sheep stranded on a rock by the tide made headlines across the world.
Chris Oxlade-Arnott spotted the animal at the bottom of a cliff while walking in Devon on 7 August with wife Jilly.
The Pershore resident, an experienced climber, scaled jagged rocks with the ewe slung over his back to bring it to safety.
He said the media response, after his wife posted the escapade on social media, had been “barmy”.
“Japan’s got it, China, Brazil, [it’s] in Germany’s main broadsheets, Australia, it’s been absolutely crazy,” he said.
The couple had been enjoying a coastal walk when Mrs Oxlade-Arnott saw a “white lump” on a photo she had taken.
“We inspected it a bit more and realised it was a sheep which was quite far out, the tide was coming in [and] it was clinging on to a rock,” Mr Oxlade-Arnott said.
“She was absolutely soaking wet, looking at us as if to say help.”
The rocks were jagged and slippery, which made the climb precarious
Deducing the animal had fallen from the cliff top and been swept out by the waves, Mr Oxlade-Arnott decided to take matters in to his own hands and climb down to rescue it.
Despite being “fairly sure-footed”, his return to the cliff-top was challenging.
“The rocks were very wet and there were some gaps we had to jump across to get her out,” he said. “You didn’t know until you put your full weight on if that foothold was going to take.”
At the top of the cliff he placed the ewe down and within moments she wandered away to graze, leaving the couple free to resume their walk.
“She must have been absolutely starving as I suspect she was probably there most of the night,” he said.
“She looked pretty much fine – there was no blood, there was no obvious breakage so we thought we’d just crack on with the day.”
