A Clearwater Hero

Winter, our already famous Clearwater dolphin, is about to become more famous.

Her movie, "A Dolphin's Tale", opens September 23 and will put the Clearwater Marine Aquarium on the world map and propel Winter from talk show phenomenon to Hollywood star. 

Hers really is a world class story.

I was one of the volunteers who nursed her when she first arrived at CMA. I remember the vet told us we had to give her a reason to keep trying, a reason to live. Even the best medical care couldn't do that. So we did our best to love her the way her missing mother would have.

We fed her from a bottle. We held her. We played with her. We carefully counted and timed her respirations. We loved her 24/7.

My shift was often in the wee hours of the cold Clearwater winter mornings. I know I'm not the only one who shivered in my wetsuit and prayed out loud with her during those long hours in the rescue pool. And yes, she really did learn to like country music best.

But here's the best part of the story and I hope Warner Bros. gets this right. Whatever rehabilitation she received at CMA, she gave back tenfold. The love she felt from us, she has shared and increased almost without measure. The renewal and redemption she experienced in Clearwater will reach out way beyond our little city and continue to bless those who need a reason to keep trying, a reason to live. She's a local hero and she's about to go global.