Special rescue: Kitten saved from drainpipe at Johnston’s Briarcliffe Campus

Posted 10/16/14

Akshay Talwar’s class, character and caring personality surfaced like never before the other day at the Briarcliffe Healthcare Campus in Johnston.

Talwar, who owns and operates the …

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Special rescue: Kitten saved from drainpipe at Johnston’s Briarcliffe Campus

Posted

Akshay Talwar’s class, character and caring personality surfaced like never before the other day at the Briarcliffe Healthcare Campus in Johnston.

Talwar, who owns and operates the ever-expanding health facility that includes a nursing home, rehabilitation center and state-of-the-art Alzheimer’s building, went through what Briarcliffe spokesperson Stefany Reed called “a few tense hours.”

But that time did not include any of the residents or skilled staffers. Instead, Talwar was worried and bent on rescuing an eight-week-old kitten that accidentally got caught in a drainpipe outside Talwar’s home.

“A numbers of rescue attempts were made to coax the kitten out of the four-inch-wide pipe,” Reed said. “But none were successful.”

Despite that, Reed said, “Akshay wasn’t about to give up until the kitten was safe and sound.”

Thus, Paul Anderson Drain Cleaning of Warwick was called to see if the company could place a camera down the pipe to determine the location of the kitten and what could be done to rescue it. Talwar told Anderson Cleaning officials he wanted to do whatever was needed to save the kitten if it was still alive.

In yet another humanitarian act, Paul Anderson and his assistant Josh dropped what they were doing and made their way to Johnston.

“They used some sophisticated equipment,” Reed said. “They snaked a camera down the drain pipe to assess the situation.

The kitten, now named PJ in honor of his rescuers Paul and Josh, was indeed alive and could be clearly seen in the screen. Reed noted that the kitten had burrowed down some 26 feet into the pipe, which ran underneath a landscaped area in front of Talwar’s house. Absolutely no time was wasted, and the digging to reach the pipe began.

“As evidenced by the camera, the team got very close to the pipe and finished the dig with a wet dry vac so as to not cause any harm to the stranded kitten,” Reed said.

The Anderson Company team then said it was time to cut open the pipe and, like a surgeon, Anderson began to work aided by direction from the camera. Once the pipe was opened, Anderson reached down with great care and lifted the kitten out.

“Young PJ was rescued, thank goodness,” Reed said. “He was examined for injuries and thankfully there were none, and he then spent the afternoon resting comfortably – so it seemed – on a heating pad while eating some food before having a reunion with his mother.”

Talwar was obviously thrilled and continuously thanked Anderson and his staffer. There was just one problem, though, as far as Talwar was concerned.

“Paul refused to accept any payment,” Talwar said. “I insisted, but he kept refusing any payment and said he was happy to help and save the kitten. So, if you need some drain cleaning done, you might want to give Paul a call. He’s a great man who does even greater work.”

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