Betty Spilsted has rescued almost 1200 injured pelicans in the past five years.
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Last Friday, she made a midnight dash to Kiama for a bird injured in one of the most distressing acts of animal cruelty she had seen. The small female was found wandering along Riverside Drive - hundreds of metres from the nearest water - heavily concussed, and blinded from blood gushing from a head wound.
A passing motorist called Ms Spilsted, a member of Australian Seabird Rescue.
"She had a big wound between her eyes, dripping blood down her beak and down the back of her throat," Ms Spilsted said. "I thought she was blind permanently, but luckily that was not the case."
The size of the wound pointed to a person having deliberately bashed the pelican, she said.
The bird has been nursed back to health, with cuts treated with antiseptic and eye ointment. She was released into Lake Illawarra at Berkeley on Wednesday.
"She will be fine. She's been to the vet three times, and she has good prospects," she said.
She urged anyone seeing an injured bird to call Australian Seabird Rescue on 0431 282 238.