Man Rescues Injured Bald Eagle on Interstate

32-year-old rescued an injured bald eagle from the side of Interstate 35W Saturday afternoon.

Sam Ratuski was driving south on I-35W up by Minneapolis when he noticed a bald eagle on the side of the road.

Sam told WCCO, "My heart dropped when I thought it was dead, but when I got closer I could see its head lifted up off the pavement."

He said the eagle appeared injured. It was sitting up against the median with its wings spread out. So, Sam stopped on the shoulder, ran across and jumped the median to get to the bird.

“I realize it may not have been the safest thing to do, but I’ve grown up in the outdoors and have always had a deep respect for animals. So as long as I wasn’t putting anyone at risk I had to help it, it’s our national bird," Sam said.

Soon after getting the eagle back to his truck, State Patrol showed up, who called DNR in to help the bird.

Ratuski is waiting to hear back  on how the bird is doing.

I actually rescued a bald eagle with my family once.

We got to go watch the release of the bird my kids named , which was also pretty awesome.

Read more at WCCO