“Freddie: Life of a Seal” by Sevenoaks authors

If you were following the news earlier this year, you would have been saddened to hear that Freddie, a famous seal from South London who stole the hearts of the nation, passed away after a dog attack on the River Thames.

 

However, two residents from Sevenoaks spent weeks researching the life of Freddie and have released a book detailing his incredible journey from his first rescue as a 2-day old pup, to his final rescue by the river, “Freddie: Life of a Seal”.

 

We caught up with Alison Kelly and partner Matt Millard to find out a little bit about their motivation, how the book has been received and any future plans.

 

The couple spoke on their motivation explaining: “We loved Freddie and were so saddened by what happened to him. We wanted to know more about him, so we traced his life back to when he was first rescued as a 2-day old pup in the Netherlands. During our research, we learnt that Freddie had been rescued four times in three different countries, and we spoke to the four wildlife organisations that rescued him.

“Members of the public also reached out to us and shared their photos and anecdotes with us, and we interviewed the Port of London Authority worker, Nigel Conquest, who coordinated Freddie’s final rescue after the dog attack which involved many different organisations, and a London Fire Brigade fireboat.

“People who’ve read the book have been really kind and given us great feedback. I think they enjoyed learning about Freddie’s journey and seeing photographs of him at different stages of his life. We were really happy to share the first moment Freddie went into the sea on his own, and what we’d learnt about him. We also wanted to inform people what to do if they come across a seal in the wild.

“One of our biggest motivators is to keep Freddie’s memory alive, and spread awareness of a petition to Strengthen Laws Protecting Seals that has now received over 19,000 signatures from members of the public and is being championed by Mary Tester, Freddie’s BDMLR medic. The petition needs to reach 100,000 signatures by the end of October before it will be considered by Parliament.”

 

Any plans on doing anything else in the future? 

“We’d love to do a documentary on Freddie and we’ll shortly be releasing another book called “Duck Story: The Lost Eagle” which is a children’s illustrated chapter book and a fictional story based on real-life animals from Kelsey Park in Beckenham. We also have another book due to be released in the Autumn called “Bad Magic”, which is the first in a series, and described as a darker Harry Potter set in places all over Kent and England.”

 

Follow the Freddie: Life of a Seal Facebook page to find out more about the book and other publications by Sevenoaks’ wonderful authors. Unfortunately, the petition didn’t reach the amount of signatures needed in time, so keep your eyes peeled for further ways to help our seals!

Exclusives by Area

Search