Penguin was a quirky member of the Bloom family. Penguin Bloom, they called her.

She enjoyed being held and, especially when she was a baby, liked sitting in the laps of people. She was also a particularly good listener. As she grew older and wiser, she would leave the Bloom home more often, but never for long, before she would return to the familiarity of her adoptive family.

Penguin was a magpie - an unconventional ‘child’. But for two years, she was like the sixth family member of the Bloom family, along with parents Samantha and Cameron and their three sons, Reuben, Noah and Oliver.

Penguin was never a pet. She was a wild bird, who had the freedom to take off whenever she wanted. But the window was always open for Penguin - an invitation she didn’t like to fly away from.

Listen to Mia Freedman chat to Sam and Cameron Bloom on No Filter. Post continues after audio.

When Penguin was a fragile baby, son Noah came across the magpie at his grandmother’s place. They could see she had been injured and had flown out of her nest. They were concerned she would die if they left her there alone.

So they carefully picked her up and carried her to their home. They saved the little bird, but what they didn’t know is that the baby bird would actually be saving them.

Penguin entered their life right when a beacon of light was exactly what they needed.

In 2013, the family of five were on a holiday in Thailand. On a rooftop deck, they were taking in their surroundings when Sam leant against a dodgy railing. It collapsed, dropping Sam six metres to the ground. She was paralysed from the chest down, suffering from a spinal cord injury.

It would be seven months before Sam could return home to Sydney’s Northern Beaches, where she'd have to start her new chapter. She was in a deep depression, she tellsMamamia. Prior to her injury, she had always led an active life of surfing and running.

“I was devastated to have that taken away,” she says.

She was angry, too.

“We live at the beach and it just rubbed it in even more. I would be sitting here staring at people surf. It would make me so sad. I found it hard to get out of bed, because I had nothing to do. It was like I was on house arrest.”

Sam also felt grief for how her injury was impacting her family.

“I felt like the worst mum in the world because I wasn't the same mum. I wasn't energetic and happy. I was angry and I felt so guilty that I wrecked their lives and their childhood.”

Three months after returning home, Noah found the baby magpie. It was a profound moment, even if it did not announce itself on the spot.

The family decided to call her Penguin because she was black and white, and her walk was more like a waddle when they found her.

“We didn’t realise she’d stay with us for quite so long,” Sam laughs. “In a selfish way for me, she gave me something to look after.

“Caring for Penguin gave me the confidence that I actually was capable of looking after something, which I didn't think I was.”

When Sam's kids were at school and her husband was at work, she loved having conversations with Penguin. Sam provided a shoulder for Penguin to rest on, and Penguin provided an ear for Sam to talk to. For each other, they were the source of strength they needed.

“I spoke to her about how much I hated this, with what had happened. I felt bad for Cam because he had so much to deal with; obviously with me and looking after the kids and work too. So I didn't want to constantly complain to him. So I would just complain to Penguin instead.”