A man recklessly threw a newborn cat out of his car and straight into a gutter, after which he disappeared without a trace. What would become of this unlucky kitten?

Tarynn Byrum heard about the terrible incident from a colleague, who had witnessed the man throw away the cat.

The kind woman immediately made her way outside, where she found that an orange kitten had indeed been left to die in a gutter.

The poor thing had matted fur and a heavy flea infestation and weighed less than 0.5 lbs.

"I noticed something was wrong immediately upon picking him up. He was obviously exhausted from his ordeal. I noticed he was filthy with matted fur and a nasty case of fleas," Tarynn told People.

"He also had extreme discharge buildup in his eyes to the point where you couldn't even tell what color they were, which worried me as I didn't want that to cause further damage."

There was only one option for the woman: she took the kitten with her and drove him straight to the vet after work.

After all the tests and searches, the furry friend was finally allowed to go home. Fortunately, the doctor was unable to detect any permanent damage – only a faint heart murmur could be heard.

Nugget the cat has since grown to be nearly full-sized – as recent TikTok photos prove – and shows off his silly personality every chance he gets.

While the little guy was originally supposed to be a foster kitten, Tarynn quickly realized that she wouldn't be able to part with the animal.

"It took about one day for me to be like, 'Yep, you're mine now!'" she explained.