Thank you for all your messages about the passing of ‘Thomas’
To the editor:
As a resident here in Bokeelia, I am just amazed at the outpouring of prayers, positive thoughts and then, unfortunately, the hundreds of sympathy notes, texts, messages, posts and phone calls in reference to the passing of “Thomas” the gopher tortoise that lived behind my home for at least the three years I resided here on Thomas Street.
I am speechless, I do not know how to thank the Pine Island Garden Club for informing me that they will be using their yearly donation to the Wildlife Refuge Hospital in the amount of $500 in Thomas’ name. I was in tears when this news came to my attention. I do not know what to do or say to express my gratitude to the Garden Club. This is such a tremendous gift to such a tremendous organization who treat our injured wildlife. I can only come up with, God bless you!
(For those of you who have never been there, you would be amazed. C.R.O.W. is also located in the same area, they help with birds, etc.
For those who do not know what happened, Thomas came out on Tuesday the 10th to just hang out and take his usual stroll in my yard, walk his usual path through my neighbors house and mine, and then, like every other day, cross our “residential” street (Thomas Street, which is why I named him Thomas) and then eventually strut back home. As mentioned earlier, this is residential, not a main road or used as a cut through. It is to much of our dismay, that it was most likely someone who resides or visits someone on our street.
As he attempted to cross the street, he was run over by a “hit and run driver.” There is no way he was not seen, he was very large and our street is a concrete color. The driver, obviously knew she/he hit Thomas, and just kept going. You can’t run over something so large and not feel something.
My friend Linda Combs drove with me to drive Thomas all the way out to the wildlife refuge hospital out on Sanibel. I was heart broken to leave him. He even knew his name During our transport out to the hospital, you could hear his front feet moving a mile a minute, then he would get quiet. I would say “Thomas, are you OK?” And his front feet would start moving again a mile a minute.
On Wednesday morning, first thing, they let me know that after removing what was left of his lower half of his shell, his back legs were paralyzed and his organs were exposed. I can’t tell you much more than that or what else I was told because I was crying.
So many Islanders will actually stop dead in the middle of our main roads, hold up traffic, and move the tortoise to the side of the road he/she was heading for, so that inconsiderate people will not run over them.
It is illegal to harm or kill a gopher tortoise, they are endangered.
Please, please, do what you can to avoid hitting them if you see one on the road. Put your brakes on, check for your safety first, and then please place the tortoise out of harms way.
He was not just a tortoise, he was so well known by my cats and dogs, they just let him do whatever he wanted to do and a few times my one cat Cola, would just go across the street with him and watch him.
So once again … thank you to my dear friends, people on the Pine Island Prospect that I correspond with, but do not know personally, I feel through the compassion of you all that you are definitely people I want to know. Thank you to all of my neighbors, FB friends etc.
This is one hell of an Island …I ‘m so proud to call it home.
Thank you infinity,
Lori DePalma and “Thomas”
(Editor’s note: The following letter was addressed to the Lee County Commission)