Couple Rescue Butterly By Carrying Out At-Home Surgery On Its Wing Before Watching It Fly Away | Wild-ish TV

A couple who performed a last-ditch surgery on an injured butterfly’s wing in a bid to save it were left stunned when it worked. Video of the intricate surgery, involving replacing the injured wing with one from a butterfly that passed away naturally, quickly went viral. Skyler Stelz, 32, from Saint Johns County, Florida, has been raising butterflies with her husband, BJ, for a number of years, but one day, the couple spotted a butterfly with a broken wing. Having waited 24 hours, the couple came to the realization that the injury meant that the creature could no longer fly – and would likely die without being able to fly and seek food. So, Skyler and BJ decided they needed to do something drastic to give the butterfly a fighting chance at survival. Skyler headed to a shadow box, where she keeps other butterflies that have died of natural causes, which she uses to make art. The 32-year-old then set up her camera on a tripod, and BJ identified what part of the butterfly's wing was no longer active before delicately cutting it off. And after Skyler reassured BJ that she had looked up that butterflies feel no pain in their wing, BJ cut a similar shape of wing from a dead butterfly of the same breed before attaching it to the live butterfly. Then, it was the moment of truth. BJ carried the butterfly outside his home, while Skyler kept her camera rolling. To the pair's surprise, the butterfly took off after some gentle encouragement, flapping its wings and flying as Skyler shouted, "Go, girl!"