A pair of donkeys came to the rescue of their incapacitated Donkey Guardian by braying to her husband for help.
Martin and James, who are cared for by Hampshire-based Guardians Carolyn and Barry Ballard, burst into loud brays after Carolyn slipped and fractured a bone in her leg.
The accident happened when Carolyn was feeding the donkeys and her sheep Isla.
Carolyn says: "Martin and James are lively and always trying to get into the hay store when we turn our backs.
"This particular night, I was taking Isla's food into her stable, and as I turned around, both donkeys sneaked into the hay store. I should have shut the door, but I forgot! I managed to get James to back up but not Martin."
As Carolyn approached Martin to coax him away, she stepped on a pallet holding the donkeys' straw and slipped.
Martin backed away and joined James outside as she crashed to the ground. However, stricken Carolyn had fractured her leg and could not get up.
With temperatures dropping, Carolyn's situation was perilous. Despite repeatedly shouting for Barry, her calls did not reach her husband.
Minutes passed, and Carolyn remained stranded on the floor in considerable pain.
Then, a moment of magic happened.
"As I was inching my way to the open door where James and Martin were standing, they both started braying long and loud," Carolyn recalls.
"I've never experienced them do that before. Martin brays or snorts all the time when he wants attention, but James has only brayed twice in several years."
Braying is a common behaviour seen in many donkeys and is a way to communicate with other donkeys and their owners, but it is also normal for a donkey not to bray at all.
"Lying on the floor was a change in my behaviour and something the donkeys had not encountered before," continues Carolyn.
"The looks on their faces and their eyes open so wide made me think they were calling out, knowing that I was in distress. Their braying was so unusual that it got Barry's attention.
"By then, I managed to manoeuvre myself to the door where I shouted and waved to Barry, who realised something was wrong and came running to my rescue.
"Without a doubt, my darling boys sensed I was in distress and raised the alarm."
Carolyn was swiftly taken to hospital, where an x-ray confirmed she had fractured her fibula. But if it had not been for the intervention of her donkeys, the result could have been much worse.
And it turns out that Martin and James' brays had reached other people too.
Carolyn adds: "The news got around to the neighbours and the farm across the road. Everyone said they heard the donkeys braying so loud but didn't think they were calling for help. It was so loud that a farmer was gardening over half a mile away, and even he heard it."
Carolyn's leg was supported by a boot, and she remained on crutches for several weeks afterwards as she recovered.
However, this did not stop her from visiting her donkeys!
