Sam's Hope

(Ok, I may have miscatted this; I'm a little unsure.)
This is my entry for the Hope and Mateship contest in the Brisburnians (and I believe most Aussie ones) group to remember the terrifying Victorian Bushfires of 2009. The national day of mourning and remembrance is set for Feb 7.

The fatal Black Saturday bushfires swept through the state of Victoria, killing 173 people, wounding 414, and destroying more than 1,200 homes. In controlled burns the week before the most devastating day of the fires, a firie saw a koala huddling under a tree. It turned to run away, but, knowing the extent of its injuries, turned back to the firie.
The firie, David Tree, yelled for water and approached the koala with his own drinkbottle, filling his palm and offering it to the koala. The koala cooled its paws and drank.
The incident was caught on mobile phone video and the koala became a worldwide phenomenon and a rallying point. Given the name Sam the Koala, she was taken into veterinary care for her second-degree burns.
Later observation of Sam proved that she was suffering from a form of fatal urogenital chlamydiosis. She was put to sleep on 6 August, 2009. She was stuffed and has been placed in the Melbourne Museum as a memorial of the hope in the midst of the terrible fires.

In the image above, a hand grasps the paw of a koala, as a symbol of the sharing and grip we must have with mateship and hope. Hope and mateship give us the fortitude to defeat even the highest odds.