Hoʻōla means "to revive, to give life, to heal."
 
Hoʻō was given his name when he was on death's door. We stayed up all night with him giving him subcutaneous fluids, rubbing karo syrup to his gums, and syring feeding him as many militers as he could possibly drink at a time (less than 20 ml). And still... he wasn't improving. He was dying in our hands and there was nothing we could do. It was a holiday and all of the vets (there's only two vets on our island who will treat goats) were unavailable. We were on the phone with every goat expert we knew, including Helena from Magical Creatures Sanctuary on Big Island. We did everything we could to help him, and still, it wasn't enough. 
 
There was a point where our little man couldn't even lift his head or open his eyes. We knew he needed more help and we also knew we had done absolutely everything we could do. We were broken and defeated. At that point, we were starting to realize he was going to slowly die in front of us over the next few hours. We didn't want him to suffer. As a hail mary, we begged our cat vet to please just help us euthanize him. She was going home but she could hear how desperate we were, and so she bent the rules of her clinic and told us we could bring him in to give him a compassionate passing. And that's when we received our miracle.
 
The vet, upon hearing his story and seeing him, chose to further break the rules and treat him. She administered fluids (with sugar), antibiotics, and a few other emergency interventions. It's hard to convey the difficulty of finding veterinary care for farmed animals here in Hawai'i, but we can't emphasize it enough. It is so hard. If a clinic isn't licensed for a sheep, they are not supposed to see sheep. There are no emergency vet clinics that treat farmed animals. This vet truly saved Hoʻōla's life. 
 
Obviously, our sweet baby survived, and he is living out the rest of his days at the sanctuary now. We could not be more grateful for this little spirit and his sweet energy and soul. 
 
Hoʻōla was rescued with his sister Daisy, his aunty Iris, and his momma Fae. They all came from a local petting zoo where sheep are also sold for their meat. Both Hoʻōla and Daisy were noted to be struggling with nursing from their momma when they were less than a week old. Fortunately their caregivers noticed and contacted the sanctuary, and our volunteers were able to provide the around-the-clock care they needed.