Crossing a dark road near Bangkok, Thailand can be hazardous (well, to anyone for that matter). Especially for a baby elephant who apparently lagged behind her herd and was then struck by a motorcycle,* knocked almost unconscious (having a weakened pulse), flat to the ground.
Fortunately an off-duty paramedic responded to the scene and, with his instincts intact, performed the CPR that saved the month-old elephant’s life. “I assumed where an elephant heart would be located based on human theory and a video clip I saw online,” rescue worker Mana Srivate stated. “When the baby elephant starting to move, I almost cried.”<> Initially dazed by the trauma, the baby elephant was finally able to gain her footing, though she was standing “within 3 minutes” of the CPR.
What became especially concerning during the 10 minute rescue was the very-real risk of encountering a herd of charging elephants, especially the mama, as their calls to the baby elephant, through their rumblings and trumpeting, grew increasingly frantic the whole time.
After relocating the little elephant for further treatment the rescue team returned to the scene of the accident (in Chanthaburi, an eastern province of Thailand) in the hopes of bringing the mother elephant and her baby together again. And, sure enough, mama elephant reemerged from the forested area (roadside) not long after.
As his sole successful CPR rescue (in all his years of responding to accidents & performing CPR, cardiopulmonary resuscitation, on human accident victims) it was fortunate for this baby elephant that rescue worker Mana Srivate considered this little animal as worthy of having a place on this earth as any human life.
Thank you for your kindness to this baby elephant, Mana Srivate.
*The driver of the motorcycle was transported to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Watch Baby Elephant CPR Rescue Video at Daily Mail Online
Sources: For photos of this sweet baby elephant during the rescue see: <>“Baby elephant WALKS AWAY after being saved with CPR when it was hit by a motorbike in Thailand” by RACHAEL BUNYAN for Daily Mail Online
“Thai baby elephant hit by motorcycle survives after receiving CPR” by Reuters
Image: CC Flicker by Internet Archive Book of Images old lithograph drawing little elephant lying on ground
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Image: CC Flicker by Internet Archive Book of Images, old lithograph drawing of little elephant lying on the ground