PIC: The smiling donkey that was rescued from a flood in Kerry is the star of the photo of the year

If doesn’t brighten up your Monday, we don’t know what will.

Apart from Teresa Mannion becoming a global sensation, there wasn’t much good to come out of Storm Desmond at the weekend, as floods wreaked havoc across the country. There was, however, a heartwarming story in Killorglin in Kerry, where a donkey was rescued after becoming stranded in deep flooding, which prompted Animal Heaven Animal Rescue to post a desperate plea for help on Facebook. Enter Mike Fleming of the Killorglin rowing club, who saved the day and saved the donkey, leading to the wonderful photographs you can see below, including the last one, which must be a contender for the best photo of 2015. Following his heroic rescue, the donkey, now called Mike, was looked after incredibly well and was returned to his owner, who was in tears while witnessing the rescue. When the rescue centre posted an update on his wellbeing this afternoon, he looked as if he had been through the same restorative treatment that Chris the Sheep underwent in Ted and Dougal’s care in Father Ted. Fair play to all involved for such a brave and courageous rescue and as for Mike, well, we just hope he can cope with all the attention he’s going to get after this… Main image via Facebook/Animal Heaven Animal Rescue