An eight-year-old from Bucks is planning to walk a marathon to raise money for the construction of a wildlife hospital after rescuing a baby owl from a crow attack. 

Despite her young age, Ella Bramley-Harker, 8, from Stoke Poges is no stranger to charitable endeavours. She has collected teddy bears and sent them to war-torn countries through the Teddy Trust and walked a half-marathon to raise £500 for the PAWS charity after being upset by the number of street dogs she saw while on a family holiday in Mauritius.

She is now preparing to take on her biggest challenge yet, however, and walk a full marathon over a two-day period in aid of Pumpkin’s Wildlife Hospital – a facility currently under construction down the road from her in Rickmansworth.

Ella became aware of the need for a wildlife hospital near the Buckinghamshire and Hertfordshire border after rescuing a baby barn owl that had fallen out of its nest and was being attacked by crows in a patch of farmland near her house. 

Her mum Sarah Wooster, 42, said: “We were out walking the dog when Ella spotted the baby owl. We managed to scare the crows away but we didn’t know what else we could do to help it. It was so young and had lost some of its feathers where it had been attacked.”

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Sarah phoned the animal hospital Tiggywinkles, based in Haddenham, which was then able to take the owl in for treatment – though she said there was initially a feeling of “helplessness” due to the hospital being around an hour’s drive away.

While the baby owl received long-term care at Tiggywinkles before eventually being released back into the wild, the incident convinced animal lover Ella that there was a need for an animal treatment facility closer to home. 

“She found out about the plans for Pumpkin’s Wildlife Hospital in Rickmansworth, which is being self-funded by a vet, and decided she wanted to help raise money towards its development. 

“Ella just always wants to give back. She’s really excited by the support she’s received so far, and I hope it will motivate her to keep doing things like this. She’s finding out that if she’s upset by something, she can actually do something about it and make a difference.”

Ella’s fundraiser for the hospital has already almost achieved its £500 target, with donations totalling £475 ahead of her two-day marathon on October 28.