A turtle called Letiz has been released back into the sea after four years of rehab.

She had swallowed a discarded plastic bag which blocked her digestion, leading to pneumonia and a lung collapse. This meant that she was no longer able to maintain a stable horizontal position in the water.

Nature Trust, which nursed the turtle back to health, said there were times when they feared Letiz would not make it, but she pulled through thanks to the expertise and perseverance of Vet Anthony Gruppetta and a dedicated team.

While Letiz was cured of the pneumonia, she remained with her right side bobbing out of the water and was unable to swim or dive, hence the years it took to release her.

A programme of fixing compensatory weights to the carapace was agreed and with the help of Karmenu Bugeja the necessary weights were designed and forged. This brought the turtle to even keel, enabling her to swim properly and dive in a normal natural way. This exercise also helped her build up of her muscles.

"Month after month we changed weights to keep her buoyant and stable. One fine day we went for our usual work with the turtles and to our surprise we found Letiz with the other side bobbing out of the water. On this occasion the side with the balancing weights was underwater and not the other way round as usual.

"We immediately removed the weights and to our joy she levelled into a quasi perfect horizontal position and just started swimming and diving normally," Nature Trust said.

In these last few months Letiz was able to swim, dive and  catch her own food whilst still in her three metre tank.

Nature trust thanked the vet and the Malta Aquaculture Research Centre at San Lucjan for their support and for hosting of the rehabilitation tanks.