This Woman Sewed a New Wing for Her Butterfly So It Could Fly for the First Time
By Mustafa GatollariUpdated Oct. 12 2018, 12:46 p.m. ET
If you want to see the true nature of someone's character, see how they treat those who are "beneath" them in some way.
Whether it's in social status, wealth, health, power, or something else, it says a lot about an individual if they assist something that really can't "repay" them in any way.
Which is probably why so many people are in love with this Facebook post by Romy McCloskey.
Romy's mother passed away from cancer years ago. Before she died, she told Romy not to fret, that she'll be with her forever: whenever Romy sees butterflies, her mother said, it's her checking in to let her know that she loves her and she's OK.
Rory, warmed by those words from her mother, began taking in caterpillars she finds outside indoors, away from birds and other predators that may eat them.
She set up a little area in her home for the bugs to properly go through metamorphosis by caring for them and providing the proper environment for them to do so.
And when their transformation is complete, she releases them into the wild.
Romy's helped dozens of caterpillars become the butterflies they were meant to become, but one little insect had some difficulty in the transformation process.
Its right wing came out deformed once its chrysalis phase was complete, meaning that in the wild, this little guy wouldn't make it on his own.
That's when Romy decided to jump into action and follow a guide she saw online that demonstrated how butterfly wings could be repaired.
She got her tools ready.
She documented the entire process. First, she held down the butterfly with a bent clothing hanger loop, to keep it stable during the procedure.
Then she cut away the damaged wings. Apparently they don't have nerve endings in the wings and don't feel it when they're being clipped.
Then she attached the prosthetic wing to the healthy part of its right wing. It wasn't 100% perfect, but she did a darn good job.
After the wing stayed on for good, it was time to test it out.
Success! Romy's butterfly friend was able to go off into the wilderness, flying all over the place like nature intended.
Romy is a costume designer and does embroidery by trade, so it made the delicate procedure of creating an artificial butterfly wing much easier for her.
She wrote about the entire involved process in a lengthy Facebook post.
It's awesome when people do awesome things, isn't it?
(h/t the dodo)
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