Disabled fish is given a floating wheelchair

An aquarium worker has given a disabled goldfish a second chance at life by creating a custom-built floating wheelchair.

Derek, 20, from San Antonio, USA was touched by the little fish's plight after it was diagnosed with swim bladder disease, an incurable condition that prevented it from holding itself upright, and made it permanently stuck at the bottom of its tank.

So Derek came up with an ingenious solution.

'I got some airline tubing that people usually use in their tank and just placed it around the goldfish,' Derek told Buzzfeed.

'I added some valves to the bottom of it, which acted as a ‘chair’ to prop him up. I added weights to the bottom of the ‘chair’ and something to keep him afloat on top and slowly removed pieces until I achieved just the right buoyancy.'

When Derek's friend, Taylor Dean - who works at the same aquarium shop - shared the image on Twitter, people were astounded at the kind gesture.

I've worked with several injured fish but him going out of his way to help this fish was just precious,' Dean said.

Her post has now been re-tweeted over 26,000 times.