A man and his partner have gone viral on social media after they saved a duck family that was trying to cross the busy US-1 in Florida.
The onboard dash camera showed the man stopping on the highway and risking his own life to save the birds.
Footage showed how the driver’s quick thinking helped the duck family cross his side of the highway.
He then got out of the vehicle and stood on the median, waving at oncoming traffic so the ducks could safely cross the rest of the highway.
Duck Family Got an Escort Across the Highway
Footage shared by Matt Fulcher on Instagram, which received over 2.3 million likes, showed a duck family crossing the highway, first spotted by his passenger, known on Instagram as Destiny K.
Noticing the ducks, Fulcher immediately slowed down and began to weave his vehicle, likely to alert the drivers behind that something was up ahead.
As he approached, the ducks were entering the grassy median. Then Fulcher decided to drive in the lane beside the divider to shield the ducks from traffic behind.
He then parked his vehicle next to the median so he could get out and help them cross the highway. While the move was dangerous, there was not much else he could do at that point because, quite clearly, the ducks were not going to wait for him.
While the passenger in his car looked out for cars coming from behind, Fulcher immediately got out of his vehicle, sprinted to the divider, and alerted oncoming traffic by waving both his hands.
It seemed like he found a clearing at one point when he ran toward the ducks in an attempt to encourage them to cross quickly. However, perceiving his approach as a threat, one of the two adult ducks tried to chase away Fulcher by attempting to charge at him.
While Fulcher dodged the duck, he continued waving his hands to stop oncoming traffic. Fortunately, motorists noticed him and the ducks and stopped their vehicles. This allowed Fulcher to cross the road, waving his hands while shielding the ducks as they crossed beside him.
The mission was accomplished. Fulcher then returned to his vehicle, where the tense passenger waited eagerly for him. Referring to the duck that tried to charge at Fulcher, she said:
“Daddy duck didn’t like that.”
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Did All the Ducks Cross Safely? Fulcher Gave an Update
Fulcher revealed in the comments section that all the ducks had crossed safely. He wrote:
“Update: Every duckling made it safely across the road. 🦆❤️ What’s the craziest thing you’ve ever stopped for while driving?”
His passenger, Destiny K, also commented, revealing that the video was a reminder to people to drive mindfully. In addition, she addressed those who posted hateful comments. She wrote:
“This video was simply meant to bring people some joy and maybe even remind others to be mindful while driving around wildlife. The hateful comments and assumptions being made are completely unnecessary.
“Matt always tells me to stay in the car during situations like this, especially when my side of the vehicle is closest to traffic. My safety is important to him, and there was nothing wrong with me remaining where he asked me to be.
“I truly appreciate all of the kind comments praising him because he absolutely did a wonderful thing. However, please remember that a short clip does not show the entire situation, and judging someone’s character based on a few seconds of video isn’t fair.
“The video also ended before I told him what a great job he did and how proud I was of him for helping those ducks safely across the road. Let’s try to keep the focus on the positive act itself instead of creating negativity where it doesn’t belong.”