Gas engineer Paddy's sheep rescue drama

Oldham engineer Paddy McQuaid was in rural Lancashire, north of Preston, as part of a team checking the route of underground gas pipelines.

It was the former soldier’s first time out on such a task – known in the industry as ‘linewalking’ – after joining gas network Cadent last year.

But the routine job soon became anything but, as Paddy, aged 34, spotted the animal in distress.

“It was trapped and the more it struggled the worse it became entangled in the fence,” said Paddy, who is based at Cadent’s Mersey Road North, Hollinwood, depot.

“It had a little baby lamb nearby, which looked terrified.”

The team tried to untangle the sheep, but she became more and more distressed.

So Paddy (pictured below), a former Duke of Lancaster’s Regiment infantryman, came up with a new battleplan.

“I checked on Google Maps and saw there was a building a mile and a half away so I started running and kept on until I came to a workshop," he said.

“Then I spotted a lady who knew the farmer and she said she’d contact him.

“Just in case, I checked in the workshop and asked if I could borrow some wire cutters and scissors.”

Armed with these new tools, he raced back to the scene to find the wire was starting to embed itself further into the sheep’s skin.

So, he began to carefully cut the animal free.

“She ran off to her lamb, which was lovely to see," added Paddy.

“It was my first experience of linewalking.

"The rest of the team assured me it isn’t always this dramatic."

Cadent manages the North West’s gas network – more than 21,000 miles of underground pipes and above-ground stations that carry gas to 2.7 million properties in the region.

From homes, hospitals, schools, offices and other workplaces, to industrial sites and HGV fuelling stations.

If placed end to end, that amount of pipes would stretch from Lancashire to Sydney, Australia, and back again.

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