MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) — After its mother died in a traffic accident, a baby deer is alive thanks to a good Samaritan — and his trusty pocket knife.

Polly Rixe is a wildlife rehabilitator licensed to the Department of Natural Resources. Now, she’s nursing the special fawn back to health.

“He’s growing big already,” she said. “He couldn’t walk when he got here.”

The fawn is sharing a playpen with two other rescued fawns, but his story is special. The fawn was delivered to her after the good Samaritan, Bill Schulte, delivered him.

Schulte was driving through Prior Lake on Sunday when he saw a car run into a deer. He pulled over and realized that the deer was pregnant.

“I was like, oh, she’s gone,” he said, “but the baby’s in there kicking. I’ve got to do something.”

So, he pulled out the retractable box cutter that he uses as a landscaper — and delivered the baby.

“It was just nice to see how he came right out nice and smooth,” Schulte said, “and I just worked the neck, because his neck came out first.”

Schulte drove the fawn 30 miles to the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center of Minnesota in Roseville, which turned him over to Rixe.

“Within two weeks, he’ll be eating an entire 16-ounce bottle,” she said.

It takes all summer to get a rescued fawn ready for the wild, but he took a major step this afternoon, when Polly moved him outdoors. One more step in an unlikely success story.

“It’s kind of crazy,” Rixe said. “I wouldn’t necessarily promote people doing that, but I guess for this particular fawn, it’s a happy ending.”

Rixe says if you find a fawn in the wild, leave it alone. Its mother is likely coming back. But if you’re really worried, feel inside its mouth. If it feels cold, then you should call for help.