Dec 22, 2004 By Josh Krysak 3 min read

When George Stockman pulled into the rear entrance of The Bon-Ton at the Uniontown Mall Monday, he was focused on last minute Christmas shopping. As he drove up and down the snow packed aisles looking for an empty parking space around noon, the Connellsville hairstylist spotted something out of the ordinary.

“She was just stuck in the middle and couldn’t run,” Stockman said. “The cars were passing on both sides, so I had to do something.”

Stockman used his vehicle to stop oncoming traffic and then got out to inspect the “she,” an abandoned kitten, which seemed “stuck” to the pavement.

Stockman carefully removed the frightened and near-death kitty from the roadway, where her paws had been frozen to the pavement, and rushed the animal to local veterinarian Dr. William Sheperd.

“I knew I had to get her to Doc Sheperd,” Stockman said. “If anyone could save her, he could.”

According to Sheperd, the kitten, quickly named Ices by the veterinary staff, suffered heavy frostbite, especially on her paws, and had to undergo immediate emergency surgery to save her life.

The three-toned, tiger-striped kitten suffered multiple fractures on her front legs and had to have one of her toes removed during the afternoon-long surgery.

Sheperd said he expected Ices to make a full recovery, albeit a slow one, with clinic officials estimating a six-week stay for the frostbitten feline.

“She is so tiny, it is hard to get her bones set,” Sheperd said, noting he had to use Popsicle sticks to splint her minute legs.

Sheperd said the kitten was probably run over by a vehicle, causing the fractures, and said she would not have lived much longer in the frigid air.

“She is alive thanks to this kind-hearted gentleman,” Sheperd said. “She would have been dead by morning without help.”

According to the National Weather Service, overnight lows in Uniontown reached about 5 degrees Sunday into Monday, with wind-chills dropping to about 20 degrees below zero.

Sheperd said Ices will be well taken care of over the coming months, already noting that the kitten is on painkillers, antibiotics and will sleep on a bed of heated beanbags.

“We are babying her already,” Sheperd said.

Although Sheperd tried to limit the cost of the surgery, Stockman spent nearly $200 to save the kitten, with no expectations of keeping the abused kitten. Stockman knew as he rushed the cat to surgery that he was not permitted to have pets in his apartmetn.

But Stockman, who said Monday night that his niece and nephew will adopt the stranded kitten, believed rescuing the cat just seemed to be the right thing to do, despite the financial price.

“I just did what my dad always said, ‘you can’t go wrong by doing the right thing,'” Stockman said.