My story - How an injured dolphin helped me heal

When Melody Horrill met damaged solitary dolphin Jock they formed a powerful bond that helped Melody confront her past and change her future.

- Melody Horrill

As he slides under my palm my fingers brush against his cool skin, which feels as soft as the finest mulberry silk. I'm weightless, suspended, my feet can't touch the ground. I tread water to keep afloat. As I awkwardly bob, the wild dolphin dives, surfaces, and floats effortlessly before me. He is spraying me with his sonar, perhaps to ensure that I'm not some erratic mechanical marine object - I am flesh and blood - a mammal-like him. The soundwaves from his echolocation permeate through me, I feel as if my insides are jingling and jangling. It's the strangest feeling. Foreign. This whole experience is weird yet so unbelievably wonderful. I think to myself, 'Shouldn't I be scared? This is a completely wild creature and I'm in his world ... not mine.' I answer myself immediately: 'He won't hurt you Mel, he wants to understand what you are. Trust him'.

I allow myself to surrender and become immersed in the moment. The dolphin has moved away, eyeing me inquisitively. I reach out and a grossly disfigured dorsal fin slices through the water towards me. The dolphin pushes his snout into my hand. I run my fingers over it. It's rough like sandpaper. I'm shocked by the contrast. My hand traces his mouth. It feels lumpy, scarred. My heart aches, I feel compassion wash over me. What has this dolphin been through? Does he have emotional scars as well as physical ones? He gently nudges me. I felt completely accepted. The feeling is foreign yet liberating.