How a Bird and a Woman Became Friends (and the Stuff for Hollywood)

As a journalist, I meet many people, but there are encounters that just warm up your heart. For me, this was recently my talk to Sam Bloom, an Australian woman, who is paraplegic after an accident on a family vacation in Thailand a few years ago.

Sam, formerly a passionate surfer, got depressed. Her husband and her three small sons couldn’t help. And then came Penguin – a small magpie which had fallen out of a nest and was adopted by the Blooms, taken to their house at the beach in Sydney. Sam and Penguin developed an incredible friendship. Penguin cheered Sam up, became her daily companion. As Sam told me, this tamed bird „saved“ her family.

Her husband Cameron, a photographer, wrote a beautiful book about the story, published in 14 languages (@penguinthemacpie). A Hollywood movie with Naomi Watts was produced. I just saw it when it came out here in Germany last week. This authentic story about the unusual friendship between a disabled woman and a feathered animal is really inspiring and shows that even in the worst situations help can come from unexpected places.

Originally published on August 31, 2021.