Disabled Goldfish Gets Its Own Wheelchair

A Texas aquarium worker is being hailed a hero after a friend posted on social media an image of a "wheelchair" he had created for a disabled goldfish.

It all began when the owner of the goldfish walked into an aquarium and asked one of the workers, a man known only as Derek, to help their goldfish, which had been diagnosed with a permanent bladder condition.

Its condition meant the fish was unable to swim upright, and spent most of its time around the bottom of the tank.

While for most goldfish the condition would mean an undignified meeting with a flushing toilet, Derek was not prepared to give up on the little guy just yet.

“So I made him a wheelchair and he loves it,” Derek wrote in a text to Taylor Dean, a friend of his who vlogs about animals on YouTube.

He also sent a picture of the "wheelchair" which appears to be fashioned from a piece of airline tubing attached to a block of Styrofoam.

Taylor Dean shared a screenshot of the text message on Twitter and the internet instantly fell in love with the unnamed goldfish, his concerned owner, and the enthusiastic and inventive pet shop worker. The post was going viral within hours.

The tale has already spawned a hundred memes.

It wasn't long before the goldfish was ready for an upgrade... 

Derek later shared some behind-the-scenes insight into the making of the "wheelchair."

Apparently he had added weights to the bottom of the contraption as well as Styrofoam to the top, and had gradually removed pieces until he had achieved just the right buoyancy to make it easy for the fish to swim around.

In a beautiful postscript to this story, Taylor Dean has just shared another picture of an updated model of wheelchair the goldfish is now sporting.

The makeshift airline tubing has been replaced with what appears to be a more comfortable, custom-fitted piece of lightweight fabric.

And by the look on his face, he just loves it!