Letcher County nurse Misty Combs has seen plenty in her 21 years on the job — but nothing like this.
Working at the Letcher County Health Department in Whitesburg, Combs and her coworkers spotted a frantic raccoon pacing the parking lot. Moments later, they realized why: her babies were stuck inside a nearby dumpster behind Kentucky Mist Moonshine, where fermented peaches had been tossed.
One raccoon scrambled out with Combs’ help, but another lay face down in a pool of boozy peaches. Without hesitation, Combs pulled the animal out and began chest compressions. Video shows her performing CPR until, against all odds, the raccoon started breathing again.
“I was afraid it’d come-to and eat me up,” Combs joked, noting the risk of rabies. Thankfully, Fish and Wildlife stepped in, and a vet gave the little guy fluids to sober up.
The staff fittingly named him Otis Campbell, after The Andy Griffith Show’s famous town drunk. Once recovered, Combs released Otis back into the wild — the raccoon who survived moonshine and lived to tell the tale.