We meet the Medway Duck Man who has his own therapy ducks!

KentOnline / KMTV

Mark, the man behind the mallards and his 19 ducks like 'Dog' and 'Pinky' join him to raise money for charity and raise people's spirits.  Etholle Reynolds reports.

Transcript

00:00Animals can be a big part of many people's lives, whether that be a beloved pet or a therapy animal.

00:08In the UK there are over 6,000 dogs currently working as therapy dogs. They range anything

00:15from a medical alert dog, a guide dog, or to just be there to help with mental health.

00:21But here in Kent we have something a little different. Therapy ducks.

00:26I came down to speak to Mark to find out more about the ducks, just like Pinky here.

00:32Mark has a total of 19 ducks and I spoke to him to get to know a little bit more about what the ducks do.

00:38I do meet and greet therapy ducks. My very first duck was dog. I hatched him out nearly six years ago now.

00:46My main therapy ducks, I do an awful lot of work with children with autism, cancer hospitals,

00:53we do an awful lot of work with charity. We go raising money for charities.

00:59Mark and the ducks travel to all manner of events from historical reenactments to the local high

01:05streets to bring joy to those around. After attending so many events,

01:10Mark has many amazing stories about how his ducks have helped individuals.

01:14When I was at Mitchum Priory three years ago with dog, we met Lorna, a 14 year old girl, blind from birth.

01:23She felt his beak, every single feather on his body, his legs, his feet. And in the photograph,

01:32my eyes actually streaming and Lorna was saying, thank you so much. I now know what a duck looks like

01:38and feels like. With an interesting, but incredibly cute way to bring joy. I wanted to know why Mark

01:45does what he does. I just want to make people smile. These are very hard, dark times. If I can

01:51make people smile. I have a really good day. I get home at night and I've had a really good day. I'm

01:57buzzing. With such incredible work, I was left with one more question. How does one acquire so many ducks?

02:05No, I do rescue a lot of birds every year. When people, it comes on Facebook, like, oh, Mark,

02:10there's a bird. I normally say, what's your postcode? And when they send me their postcode,

02:16they say, oh, when can you come? Like, well, I'm on my way now. I'll do it all free of charge. I rescued

02:22from Hempcid, a mallard female and nine little ducklings. And the gentleman goes, oh, how much do you

02:30want for donations? Nothing. I said, no, no, no. I said, join me on Facebook and every day I will keep

02:38you updated on their progress. After spending some time with the ducks and feeding them peas,

02:44I can certainly see why these animals in particular can be a great way to help people,

02:49whether that be physical or mental health. Etterley Reynolds for KMTV.

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