She laid him on his back in the parking lot and started CPR.
Come on baby! Come on! she said, pressing down on his chest over and over again with her bare hands.
When he started spitting up water and sticking out his tongue, Combs, a registered nurse, knew her life-saving efforts were working. She turned him over on his side, gently patted his back again and again and looked for more signs of life.
What happened to ya? she wondered.
The patient a baby raccoon was sloshed.
The curious critter had gotten into a garbage bin and had gorged on fermented peaches discarded by the nearby Kentucky Mist Distillery, which had used them in distilled alcohol to make infused peach moonshine.
The furry inebriate smelled of moonshine, said Combs, who works for the Letcher County Health Department in Whitesburg, Kentucky.
For Kentucky nurse, a new kind of patient
Combs is trained to give CPR to humans, not to raccoons. No matter. Her efforts saved the animals life and landed her in her hometown newspaper, The Mountain Eagle, which was the first to write about the dramatic rescue and resuscitation.
Combs, 43, said she has been blown away by all of the attention she has received for just doing what nurses do.
My duty as a nurse is to help people, she said. And sometimes people may be little furry animals.
Combs was at work on Aug. 14 when one of her coworkers noticed an adult raccoon walking across the parking lot acting strangely. She and two other coworkers, Brandy Slone and Hazel Adams-Moore, went to investigate and heard a chitter-chatter sound coming from a nearby dumpster. They peeked inside and saw two baby raccoons, who had apparently been drawn to the bin by the smell of the fermented peaches.
Combs worked carefully to keep from getting bitten because raccoons can carry rabies.
She used a shovel to remove one of the baby animals, which was standing atop the bag of peaches. Once freed, it immediately ran to its mother, the distressed raccoon watching nearby. The other baby racoon, however, was so drunk that it had fallen over and was drowning in rainwater that had collected in a corner of the dumpster.
Combs climbed part of the way into the garbage bin, grabbed the drunk-as-a-skunk critter by its tail and pulled it out. It wasnt breathing or responding, and everyone thought it was dead. But Combs wasnt ready to give up.
I was like, you know what? Its mommy is standing here watching, Combs recalled. I think that we should at least give it a try to save it. Trash panda compressions
She did chest compressions on her tiny patient for a couple of minutes. With every compression I did, black water would come out of its mouth, she said. We were all thrilled.
When the soused mammal began to kick and stick out its tongue, I started beating it on its back to get the rest of the water out of its lungs, she said. It started breathing normally.
The coworkers wrapped the raccoon in a towel and called animal control, which placed him in a cage. Slone, the health departments coordinator, nicknamed him Otis Campbell after the Mayberry town drunk on the old "Andy Griffith Show."
The Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife eventually picked up the besotted creature and took him to a veterinarian, who gave him some fluids and allowed him to sleep off his buzz.
Colin Fultz, the distillery owner, said this is the first time an animal has gotten into the discarded fruit used to infuse his moonshine and vodka products. Theres still alcohol in that (fruit), he said. I wouldnt think he would have eaten it. Because what animal drinks alcohol? Moonshine-infused fruit led to pig deaths
The distillery used to give the used fruit to a local pig farmer who fed it to his hogs, Fultz said. But, the pig would get drunk and lay down, and the other pigs would come and lay down on it, he said. It killed a couple of pigs.
Otis story has a happier ending.
The day after his rescue, Fish and Wildlife returned the raccoon back to a delighted Combs.
It was healthy and fuzzy and hyper, she said. It was a miracle.
Combs opened the cage and watched as Otis scurried off into the weeds near a bridge, where his mother has often been spotted.
I havent seen him since then, Combs said.
To prevent a repeat of Otis near-death brush with booze, the distillery has asked the city for a dumpster with a lid.
I really enjoy her voice. Unfortunately it's hard to hear that accent and not immediately think, "MAGA moron". Not saying she is... Anyway good job to her, and congrats to the baby raccoon. Little cutie.