A Tiny Feathered Hero Saves Woman After Life-Threatening Fall
When 68-year-old Sandie Gillard plunged from a second-story window, the violent impact left her unconscious on the hard cement below—a fall that could have claimed her life, if not for a most unexpected rescuer: a small, loyal magpie named Jellybean.
The bird, once a helpless chick cared for by Gillard, tapped gently on her former guardian’s forehead, rousing her just enough for Gillard to call her husband. He rushed to the scene and contacted emergency services, who arrived in time to fly her to the hospital and stabilize her condition.
It’s moments like this that help explain why magpies are so deeply respected in English folklore.
The accident took place in 2020 in Esperance, a quiet coastal town in the remote southeastern corner of Western Australia. Gillard had spent much of her life there rehabilitating injured or abandoned wildlife, especially birds.
Three years before the fall, a passerby had brought a tiny, grounded magpie chick to Gillard after it had tumbled from its nest and couldn’t fly. Drawing on her deep experience with avian care, she took the chick in and named her Jellybean.
For months, the young bird lived with Gillard and her family, forming a tight bond. Even after learning to fly and forage independently, Jellybean remained close, often knocking at the door to say hello or playing with Gillard’s grandson on the verandah.
“She stayed around the neighborhood. She’d wait outside until I came out to greet her,” Gillard shared in an interview with ABC News Australia.
Gillard has no recollection of her fall. She later learned she had suffered a severe head injury and a dislocated arm when she hit the concrete. Her first memory was faint: a soft sound like purring, and something gently tapping her forehead. It was Jellybean.
This time, the rescuer had become the rescued.
Thanks to Jellybean’s persistence, Gillard regained just enough consciousness to contact her husband, whose quick actions got emergency responders to the scene. Paramedics airlifted her to a hospital, where doctors later said that had she remained unconscious any longer, she likely would not have survived.
In the years since, with the risks of living alone more apparent, Gillard made the tough decision to leave Esperance and move closer to family—hundreds of miles away. Though the move was heart-wrenching, she finds peace knowing Jellybean and countless other birds she’s cared for now thrive thanks to her kindness.
It’s a bond that time and distance won’t erase—and a story neither she nor those touched by it are likely to forget.