HOW FRECKLES healed our hearts

Stephanie never imagined the companionship she'd find with a chook Stephanie Compton, 54, Campbelltown, NSW

Jumping off the lounge, I was pleased when my husband, Chris, then 53, walked through the door.

'How was your day? Tell me everything!' I asked, enthused. It was March 2020, and we'd just gone into lockdown due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Sadly, my business as a massage therapist wasn't considered an essential service, so I had to temporarily shut up shop.

But Chris, a traffic controller, and our daughter, Casey, 22, a childcare worker, were still going to work. Her fiancé, Brad, 24, who lived with us, worked as a tradie, so he was allowed out, too.

Thankfully, I had our family dog Jet and cat GinGin, for company as well as our parrot Pretty Boy, and budgies Bluey and Greenie.

At first I loved spending my days watching Netflix and reading books. But as the lockdown continued, I began feeling blue.

Then, one morning in April that year, Chris came home with an injured chicken wrapped in a towel.

He explained he'd been doing traffic control when he saw a truck of chickens drive past, heading to the slaughterhouse. The chook had tumbled off the vehicle, landing on the roadside.

The poor thing had lost an eye and suffered a broken foot and smashed wing, before Chris kindly scooped her up in a towel and placed her in the cabin of his truck.

'You poor darling bird,' I said, giving her some water.

On her way to work that morning, Casey took the chook to a vet to get her injuries assessed. Later, she ssessed. phoned with an update.