A baby elephant nearly died after being hit by a motorcycle in Thailand, but the creature is now alive and well thanks to the heroic actions of one man.
Mana Srivate told the Reuters that he has performed dozens of resuscitations during his 26 years as a rescue worker, but he had never done one on an elephant before. Now, a video has gone viral of him using his CPR experience to save the life of a baby elephant!
The baby elephant had reportedly been trying to cross a road with a group of wild pachyderms in the eastern Thai province of Chanthaburi. Mana was off-duty on a road trip when he came upon the scene of the accident, and he immediately stepped up to offer his services to help in any way he could.
“It’s my instinct to save lives, but I was worried the whole time because I can hear the mother and other elephants calling for the baby,” Mana explained.
Mana had never dealt with an elephant before, but he used his experience with humans to figure out the best course of action with the animal.
“I assumed where an elephant heart would be located based on human theory and a video clip I saw online,” he said. “When the baby elephant starting to move, I almost cried.”
After about ten minutes, the baby elephant stood up and was rushed to another site for treatment. It was then returned to the site of the accident in the hopes of finding its mother, who had escaped without any serious injuries. Thankfully, Mana said that the baby was reunited with its mother after she heard it calling for her once it was returned to the accident site.
Though he’s dealt with dozens of road accidents in which humans are the victims, Mana said that the elephant was the first creature that he had managed to revive while performing Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
This serves as a reminder of what true heroes first responders like Mana really are. They never know when their services will be needed, but they are always there to help save lives whether they are on duty or off.
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