When Cosim finally managed to get food with his new beak and eat without the help of anyone, the veterinarian who had followed him for months burst to cry.
To arrive at that moment, however, this bird had to survive more than once.
Som was still very young when illegal wildlife traffic took him away from the life he should have in nature.
He finished under the care of Rafael Carneiro, a veterinarian specializing in wild animals in Baixada Santista, Brazil, which followed him from the early stages of his growth.
Then another serious accident occurred.
During a shift between fences, an ara severely wounded him, destroying his beak.
For a bird it is not simply an aesthetic menomation.
The bill serves to feed, manipulate objects, explore the environment and carry out many fundamental activities of everyday life.
Som's condition fell.
The bleeding first.
Then anemia.
Finally, a bacterial infection that seriously threatened his life.
For about two months the priority of veterinarians was not to reconstruct what he had lost.
He was kept alive.
Only when its conditions stabilized it was possible to think about the next step.
A group of specialists designed for him a personalized prosthesis, made with the help of 3D printing and subsequently applied with an intervention.
But building a new beak didn't mean to automatically return the ability to use it.
Som had to learn everything again.
Calculate movements.
Grab the food.
Understand the necessary pressure.
Coordinate an artificial part of your body with movements that were previously natural.
It was a course of months.
Then that day came.
In front of Rafael, Som grabbed the food with the prosthesis and managed to eat completely alone.
In the eyes of anyone else could seem like a tiny gesture.
For the veterinarian it was the result of all the work done.
Not just saving his life.
Give him a part of his autonomy.
Because of what he has experienced and the consequences, Som may not be able to return to wildlife.
And this is perhaps the bitterest part of the story: the illegal trafficking of animals can produce consequences that even the best medicine always manages to completely erase.
But that first meal eaten alone also told what veterinary medicine, technology and months of patience had managed to return it.
Som had a new bill.
The real goal came when he proved he could use it without waiting for someone to take it.