Mana Srivate, a rescue worker who has performed dozens of resuscitation attempts in his 26-year-long career, was called for an emergency on late Sunday after a baby elephant in Thailand was struck by a motorcycle. 

This was Srivate’s first attempt at saving an elephant, who was hit while crossing a road with a group of wild pachyderms in Thailand’s Chanthaburi, Reuters reported. Srivate, in a video that went viral on social media, was seen giving two-handed compression to the elephant who is lying on its side.

Meanwhile, Srivate colleagues treat an injured motorcycle rider, lying on the floor a few metres away. Both the biker and elephant had minor injuries and were recovering. 

In a telephonic interview with Reuters, Srivate said, “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.”

He added, “When the baby elephant starting to move, I almost cried.”

The baby elephant stood up after about 10 minutes of CPR treatment and was taken to another location for treatment. He soon returned to the scene of the accident hoping to reunite with her mother. Srivate said the other elephants returned to the site after the mother heard her baby calling out, Reuters reported. 

“I assumed where an elephant heart would be located based on human theory and a video clip I saw online,” he said.

Srivate said that even though he has performed CPR on many persons, the elephant is the only victim he had managed to revive.