Internet sleuths have theorised on how the fish got there (Picture: PA)
A man who found a goldfish ‘seconds away from death’ in his garden has told how he rescued it and plans to give it a permanent home.
NHS doctor Ben Beska, from Newcastle, saw the fish ‘flapping’ on his lawn after the sound of magpies squawking outside prompted him to investigate.
He quickly picked it up and put it in an old freezer drawer filled with water, where it started to swim.
Writing on X, he said he has ‘absolutely no idea where it came from’ and there are ‘no ponds anywhere near’.
An old freezer drawer was the best quick-fix Dr Beska could find until he bought a tank (Picture: PA)
He rushed to a nearby shop and bought a tank as well as chemicals needed to make the water hospitable for the fish.
Dr Beska, 33, later told the BBC: ‘I locked my cats out of the kitchen, obviously, I didn’t want them to eat it, that would have been a terrible end to the story.’
The cats were allowed back in once the goldfish was set up in its tank, and one of the felines was pictured peering inquisitively at the new arrival.
One of Dr Beska’s cats was very intrigued by the new addition to their home (Picture: PA)
The fish has now been named Alice after a text message he sent to a friend explaining the situation autocorrected from ‘it’s alive’ to ‘it’s alice’.
Dr Beska described the ‘bonkers’ experience of seeing his posts about the incident go viral, amassing 16 million views over less than a day.
Several users commented on the tank he bought, saying he should get Alice a bigger one due to the amount of waste goldfish produce.
The 33-year-old clapped back, writing sardonically: ‘You happen to find a mostly-dead goldfish on your lawn and tweet about saving its life and your replies are filled with people saying yOu sHoUlD hAvE pLaNnEd tHiS bEtTeR.’
Dr Beska has been busily roasting know-it-alls and Captain Obviouses online (Picture: PA)
In another post, Dr Beska wrote: ‘Repeat after me: a hastily bought, temporary tank is better for a goldfish than lying dead on the grass.’
He also mocked numerous know-it-alls who pointed out the fish ‘can’t have been in the garden for long’.
Replying to one sleuth who suggested Alice was ‘caught by a bird from a local pond and then accidentally dropped’ into his garden, Dr Beska joked: ‘No it walked into my garden.’
He has since purchased a full array of products for feeding and caring for goldfish and plans to buy it a bigger tank – and possibly a second fishy friend to live with.
A follower has since set up an X account for Alice, ‘alicebeska’, to parody the situation.
One post showing a photo of the tank in Dr Beska’s living room is captioned: ‘Emergency housing not so bad I guess, but f*** me this studio flat is kind of small.’
Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.
For more stories like this, check our news page.