Mosha the Asian elephant was just seven-months-old when she stepped on a landmine near the Thai-Burmese border and lost her leg. Rescuers rushed her into surgery, and although they saved her life, they couldn’t save her leg.

Her caregivers knew that she wouldn’t be able to survive in the wild with just three legs, so they took her to the Friends of the Asian Elephant Foundation. Mosha quickly settled into life at the sanctuary and made friends with the other resident elephants.

As Mosha began growing however, her one leg in the front began bending unnaturally due to so much weight being put on it. They worried what would happen to her so they called in expert help.

Orthopedic surgeon Therdchai Jivacate came to help Mosha when she was just two-years-old. He is a master prosthetic maker and has made over 20,000 limbs for humans and small animals. Although he’d never made a prosthetic for an elephant, he was up to the challenge.

Therdchai said the way she was walking was unbalanced and was bending her spine. Eventually, without the prosthetic, she would have died. He began the process of creating his first prosthetic limb.

Although it took a lot of trial and error, he was able to create a leg for Mosha that was comfortable and held her weight. The first time they put it on her, she was confused and tried to take it off with her trunk. After about 12 hours, she was walking and loved her new leg.

There was still one problem. Mosha was still growing and quickly outgrew her prosthetic limb. In just a few short years she grew from around 1,300 pounds to over 4,000 pounds. Luckily, Therdchai was willing to create her more prosthetic limbs as she grew.

Over the past 15 years, Therdchai has made Mosha over nine limbs. He says each time he creates a new limb he makes improvements. And Mosh seems to remember Therdchai because she’s very excited every time he comes to visit.

Check out the video below to learn more about Mosha and her prosthetic leg and be sure to share this heartwarming story with your family and friends.