Fox 8 News Cleveland: Multi Radiance Laser Therapy Helping Hurt Koalas

Fox 8 News in Cleveland profiles how Solon-based Multi Radiance Medical's Laser Therapy technology is being used to treat 4-5 koalas daily in the Port Macquarie Koala Hospital in New South Wales, as bushfires ravage the surrounding area. Donate to the hospital's GoFundMe to help them continue their rescue and rehabilitation efforts: https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-thirs... Video Transcript Well the weather is expected to get worse for fire crews working to contain those massive wildfires burning out of control in Australia. Right now, cooler temperatures and light rain are somewhat helping to battle the blazes, but in the next few days, forecasters are expecting a return of a severe fire threat with warmer weather and gusty winds. The official death toll still stands at 24 with thousands of homes damaged or destroyed. Nearly 18 million acres of land have been burned across the country. As of now, almost half a billion animals have been killed and nearly one-third of all koalas in New South Wales have died. The pictures and images of the kangaroos and koalas, just so hard to see. Some of the animals that have been saved from the fire-ravaged areas of the country are now being treated for burns and benefiting from technology created by a Cleveland-area company. Fox 8 News reporter Jack Shea joins us live with much more on this story now. How they're helping these sweet animals. Trying to make a difference, Gabe and Tracy. Those animals are being treated with lasers that are designed to minimize pain and speed up the healing process. The ferocious bushfires in Australia are having a devastating impact on the ecosystem in the land down under. Nearly 18 million acres have been scorched by the fires that started in September, and 24 people have lost their lives. Wildlife officials estimate that as many as a half billion animals have perished in the bushfires and among the species most affected are koalas. Many of the koalas are being treated for burns at a veterinary clinic in Port Macquarie, New South Wales. Technology created by Multi Radiance Medical, a therapeutic laser company based in Solon, is being used by the vets 9,000 miles away to aid in the recovery of the marsupials. We're using the laser light to stimulate biological processes, either to inhibit processes, like to dull pain or to stop pain, or to actually stimulate processes to increase wound healing and reduce inflammation. The cutting-edge laser technology from Multi Radiance Medical being used to treat the koalas in Australia is also used to treat humans for a variety of medical conditions. Right now you can see the visible parts of the laser, which are red and blue. Red is a superficial wavelength which treats the skin and has a lot of very vascular properties, in terms of getting into the bloodstream. Blue is best for infection control. To give you an idea of how important the lasers are in Australia right now, the animal hospital there normally treats 3-4 animals a month. They are now treating 4-5 koalas a day. As wildlife officials try to assess the long-range impact of the bushfires on the koala population, a small company in suburban Cleveland is doing its part to help nurse hundreds of koalas back to health. To see something that's created right here locally, to know that when something of that devastating nature is going on so far away from us, that we're able to help in some capacity. The plight of those animals has touched the hearts of people around the world. A GoFundMe page was set up for that clinic in New South Wales with a stated goal of $25,000. Gabe and Tracy, so far they have raised $5 million. Wow! That video, the images, you hear the little koalas yelping in pain, and to know that this local company is really making a difference in that pain management means a lot. Their technology is helping people, it's helping animals. They never could see that it would happen in a case like this, but it obviously is being very, very beneficial to the koalas in Australia. That is great to see. All right Jack, thank you.