9:29am UK, Monday September 22, 2003

A wild kangaroo saved a farmer's life by alerting his family that he was lying unconscious in a field, ambulance workers in Australia have said.

The real-life Skippy began banging on the door of the family home in Victoria during weekend storms in the area, Rural Ambulance Victoria paramedic Eddie Wright told a Melbourne radio station.

Lulu the heroic marsupial

Len Richards had been checking his property for storm damage, when he was hit on the head by a falling branch.

He was knocked unconscious and could have died had he not been found so quickly, Mr Wright said.

"The kangaroo alerted them to where he was and went and sat down next to him and that's how they found him," he said.

"The farmer's wife followed the kangaroo because he was acting out of character."

Lulu the kangaroo, though wild, had been adopted by the family around a decade ago because it was blind in one eye.

The incident has prompted comparisons with the old Australian children's TV show "Skippy", about a kangaroo that solves crimes.

"It's not a pet as such, it's just an animal that's adopted them over the years and comes and goes as it pleases, they were lucky yesterday it was in the area," said Mr Wright.