The fish that just won't die

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Ten days ago I asked my friend to drop over with an old pair of barbecue tongs. I had spotted that one of my pond fish was lying on its side on the bottom of the pond and I assumed it was dead. I just couldn't understand why it wasn't floating. I hate to leave a dead fish in a pond. I always think it must be very upsetting to the other fish so I wanted to get him/her out as soon as possible. Our pond is deeper than it looks and after I'd taken my jacket off, the full length of my arm plus the BBQ tongs was only just enough to nudge the fish. I then found out that it wasn't dead at all as it fluttered about a bit and gave a clear indication that it wasn't looking for any help just yet. I left the tongs with my husband and went away for work, warning him that as soon as the fish was floating, it had to go. My husband is a braver soul than me. I just can't do the whole 'putting it out of its misery' thing. As long as a fish puts up resistance to being caught, I figure that it's not my place to decide to dispatch it to meet its maker. It's my poor husband who has to kill the half-dead birds and rodents that the cats bring home. I have - odd as it might sound - researched fish euthanasia. A few drops of clove oil in a bucket will send an ailing fish off to fishy heaven quickly and painlessly. But that doesn't mean that knowing a thing and doing a thing are the same. I checked the pond and couldn't see a floater so I asked my husband if he'd sorted out the fish. He hadn't. In fact he hadn't even seen the invalid. It took me quite some time to spot it, flapping about with surprising energy. And so, until such time as it's either clear that he/she has had enough, our fishy friend can continue to flop about on its side in the bottom of the pool.