Of all days, on the hottest day of the year so far! On Sunday afternoon in Düsseldorf, disaster suddenly strikes: Elly the cat, a small, curious little moggy, ventures onto the flat roof of a house on the second floor – and shortly after vanishes without a trace!
The dramatic truth: Elly has fallen down a chimney shaft.
A race against heat and gravity
Only the sounds of her desperate attempts to escape and her faint meowing give any clue to what has happened to her. But nobody knows exactly where she's stuck. This fall triggers one of the most moving rescue operations Germany has ever witnessed.
Tierrettung Essen Animal Rescue is called out to the scene. Using endoscopic cameras, the volunteer helpers begin their search and finally find Elly after an hour, deep down in the pipe. There sits the little moggy, barely moving. But the relief is short-lived – Elly is in danger of falling even further.
So, the fire brigade is called in; 15 people and four vehicles arrive on the scene shortly after. It quickly becomes clear: only drastic action can help. The emergency crews drill a hole in the wall of the flat below, hoping to reach the kitten this way. But sadly, this proves futile. The chimney pipe remains "absolutely inaccessible" even from here.
By three o'clock in the morning, after twelve exhausting hours on the scorching hot roof, the helpers must give up, utterly drained. Elly is still trapped – and nobody knows how much longer she can hold on.
Second attempt – and a new surprise
Four hours later, after a brief sleep, the helpers launch a second rescue attempt. But then comes the next unexpected twist: Elly has vanished! Nobody knows how, but suddenly she's no longer in the original shaft. Instead, new sounds from a neighbouring building.
Everything is immediately set up again: cameras, floodlights, ladders. The rescuers follow the faint, barely audible mewing – and find Elly in a different shaft. How she got there remains a mystery. But now there's hope.
In the afternoon, almost 24 hours after her fall, the moment finally arrives: Elly is discovered near a chimney and gently freed from her dark trap. The relief is enormous. Helpers, firefighters and neighbours are moved to tears as Elly, finally, blinking cautiously, sees daylight again.
Elly is saved. And with her, the certainty that true heroes never give up.