This adorable calico was given a second chance at life by a stroke of luck. Brooklyn-based photographer, Antonio M. Rosario, noticed a tiny kitten hiding under the hood of a Mercedes. “If we had been a minute off in any direction, this would never have happened,” Rosario told TODAY.com.
She was named Mercedes. Not only did she find a second chance at life, she now lives happily with the person who saved her.
Here is the full story courtesy of Antonio M. Rosario:
So, here’s the story about Mercedes the kitten.
We’re driving along Ocean Parkway, headed to Brighton Beach for a morning at the beach. Sometime while we’re driving (I’m in the passenger seat) I hear what sounds like a cat crying. I don’t pay it that much mind as I figure we’re passing by some alley cats or something. Then, a little later when we hit a stoplight, I hear the sound again. This time I think that we have a cat in our car. I look out behind me and out the window and in the adjacent lane is see a Mercedes s550 with its left front turn signal light missing from the housing. In this housing is the little face of a kitten crying.
Whoa! I open the window and wave at the woman driving the car. I grab her attention and point to the front of her car. “You have a cat inside your car!” I yell. She rolls down her window and I yell at her again. “What should I do? Is it dead?” she says. “No, pull over there,” I yell back.
Me and Mercedes
We both pull over to the service road on Ocean Parkway and like Avenue U or something. I tell her to shut down her engine. She does and gets out of the car and moves like 20 feet away, as if the car is on fire or something. I tell her again that there’s a cat in her car and ask her to pop open the hood. She has no idea how to do this. I can see the kitten sitting inside the housing where the turn signal lamp should be. She’s staring at me and I reach in to grab her and she disappears further into the engine.
At this point, we’re attracting a small crowd. I’m asking people’s who walk by if they know how to open the hood of the car so we can rescue the kitten. Two guys get into the car and are searching for the hood release while I’m trying to reach in for the kitten.
We all have iPhones, so we start Googling how to open the hood of an s550. In the mean time, I ask the woman who’s driving to call someone to ask them how to open the hood. This goes on for a while.
Mercedes in the car after her rescue
Suddenly, I see a paw protruding from the right front part of the car, near the turn signal housing. It’s limp. Elizabeth and I fear the kitten is dead because the engine was so hot. I push at the paw and shove it back inside the housing. The kitten could not come out that way anyway. I could feel it and I poked it a bit and it started crying again.
The driver said to me, along with some of the other people who were there (they may have known the driver) that it was now ok and we could go and she would either drive over to the mechanic or the police would take care of it. We did not agree that it was fine. We told her if she started the car it would kill the kitten for sure. I don’t think they were being malevolent in any way, I just don’t think they knew what to do. Some other guys also cautioned about starting the car.
Now the kitten was crying. We finally got the hood open and I could finally see the kitten had moved a bit more towards the center of the car, between the radiator and the fan. She was looking up at us. I tried to reach my arm down, but there was not enough room and I kept burning myself on the radiator cap. Anothe guy started tapping underneath the car in order to scare her back towards the open housing on the left side of the car. That’s when she decided to take a left turn and head further into the engine block, out of our sight. CRAP!!!!!
Mercedes relaxing after her first night with us
One of the guys helping saw her and said she was near an opening that she could climb down and exit the engine. I got on the ground and pushed myself under the car as much as I could. I saw the hole and a little bit of fur. I asked Elizabeth for some of her breakfast scone so that I might entice her to eat. The driver said she had some ground beef from the supermarket, so I took some of that too. I shoved my arm under the car and held the meat up to the hole. I could see the kitten and she became interested in the meat. She first poked her head out of the hole. I told everyone to be quiet so we wouldn’t scare her back into the engine. Finally she dropped one leg down then another. Finally, she dropped out of the hole and I grabbed her firmly and quick.
Gotchya!!!!!!
We had a small crowd gathered and I’m holding her against my chest. Everyone’s thanking us and we’re thanking them, and the driver was relieved and happy. “Are you going to keep her?” a guy asked. What do you think was our answer.
We all agreed that she should be named Mercedes. Merci (Mercy) for short.
Welcome to our world Merci. What a start!
EPILOGUE
We drove her right to the vet. She seems pretty healthy. Some conjunctivitis in her eyes. Maybe some worms. Possibly a few fleas if any. No feline leukemia (they have a 5-minute test they do now). She was starving and the vet gave her a can of food which she vacuumed down. No RFID tag under her skin. So things look good for her, at the moment. She’s now installed in one of our bathrooms, separated from the Men who, so far, haven’t freaked out.
More updates, photos and videos at Antonio M. Rosario Photography.
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what a lovely story!! thank you for taking care of her, you must be a very good man!! she is sooo pretty
What an amazing rescue
nail-biting! thank goodness it was a success.
What amazing story. She is a precious and lucky baby. I hope you have many healthy and happy years together.
a lovely rescue story
that baby will thank and love you forever….that act of kindness is really beyond words…
Love this story. Mercedes is a lovely, lucky kitten!
Thank God for you and others like you who have the compassion to save a little, helpless kitten. And what was that woman thinking, to restart the car? Do people seriously have zero common sense? So glad you and the others convinced her to stay put while you figure out a way to extract the kitten.
Lucky little Mercedes!
Sadly, common sense isn’t common at all. The woman was likely scared, flustered, and nervous. She almost certainly felt like she’d lost control of the situation and wanted to get back into control of it by taking charge, even if her idea was a rather stupid one.
What a great story! Pretty pretty cat, and wonderful people who saved her!
She was definitely meant to be yours!
I love a good ending! Hooray for Merci!! Cute little girl.
Thats so awesome way to go!!!! Lucky little girl!!!
Warm cars are so dangerous for cats, especially kittens who can squirm up into tight places. People who own cats or live in neighborhoods with cats around should make a habit of checking under their hoods before driving. Again, kittens especially often seek the warmth and shelter of a car motor. Thank you for the excellent account of Mercedes’ “adventure.”
Great story! Am now following him on Pinterest [he's a photographer as well as a kitty rescue expert]. Thank you kind sir =^..^=
Nice rescue.
that is one amazing rescue story. I so glad you got her out of the car finally. Also glad she is ok. God made sure you saw her so you could rescue her and save her life
Merci is one beautiful little kitty.
you’re an amazing human- no wonder she already trusts you. Bright blessings to the whole household!
awesome story! and what a gorgeous little calico! what a beauty
What an adventure with a happy ending! Mercy looks contented ^-^
Thank you for saving her! She’s a gorgeous kitty.:D
Oh thank you so much for helping this adorable kitten out of this car! Thank you for sharing her life now
Thank God for people willing to save a life, however small!
What a great rescue story, thanks to all who took part in the rescue, and thanks to you for taking her in!!Please keep us updated!!
Day D and hour H for Mercedes, Thank you all for rescuing this precious kitty!.
So precious to read about these tough New York dudes all gathering to help rescue this little baby kitty…and who said Gothamites don’t have any heart? (Not me!) The Lord had mercy on little Mercedes (which means “mercies” in Spanish)…and He will have mercy on you for your kindness. Never mind that she is such a GORGEOUS little girl….From Mercedes to Tesoro (treasure)!
This is such an amazing rescue, and I am so grateful that there are people like you! She is safe and loved, that is so important!
Blessed you all for taking the time n patience to rescue the kitten. It’s quite a suspense story with good endings . You are just meant to be together.
Mercedes is breathtaking, her markings are stellar.
What an amazing story. Thank you for your perserverence in saving this beauty & giving her a safe & loving home.
Thankfully you have great hearing – for it saved a very special life!
OMGODDDDDDDDDDDDDDDD I couldnt read this story fast enough!!!!!!!!!!!! What a suspense!!! I just love all these wonderful guys who not only went thru the trouble to save this little life, they then showered her with love, TLC and gave her a home!!!! What a happy ending!! Each happy ending helps restore my faith a little more!!! Thanks Guys!!
thank you for your kindness and perseverence in rescuing Merci!and most of all for giving her a home!!
What a beautiful story and thank you so much for your efforts to rescue little Merci! I was not so lucky yesterday with an abandoned kitten I found under a car in my parents’ driveway. My trip to the vet was not a happy one and we had to let the little kitten go, but your story made my day. Thank you again and I’m so happy Merci was lucky enough to be found by such loving and caring owners!
Good job! You care a lot about little creatures to take all that time to rescue him/her. I’ve done a few of those myself through the years. Glad to see there are some of you still out there.
Bless you Antonio for saving this beautiful kitten. May you have many happy years together.
OMG! What an incredible story! I’m so glad Antonio didn’t give up on that situation and that kitten! Thank you for sharing the story!!
Wow! I could feel the urgency in your story, my stomach was turning the whole time! God bless you and your precious little Merci <3
What an awesome story and a beautiful kitten!
Merci looks very happy and continted. god bless Antonio and the others who helped resique her
What a story…so glad she’s safe & has a bright future to look forward to.
Antonio is a hero!