Baby elephant hit by motorcycle survives after receiving CPR

A baby elephant hit by a motorcycle in Thailand has survived against the odds after receiving CPR from an off-duty rescue worker.

In an interview with Reuters, rescue worker Mana Srivate said that he had performed CPR a number of times before in his career, but he had never attempted to resuscitate an elephant.

The incident was captured on camera, and in the now-viral footage, Srivate can be seen giving the baby elephant two-handed compressions as it lies on its side in the middle of a darkened road.

Watch the baby elephant being resuscitated below: 

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Per BBC News, after 10 minutes of CPR, the elephant stood up.

The animal had been struck as it tried to cross the road in the eastern Thai province of Chanthaburi with a group of wild pachyderms.

Srivate's colleagues can be seen in the video treating the motorcycle rider too, who reportedly survived the collision without any serious injuries.

The rescue worker - who has been in the occupation for 26 years - said that he came across the accident on a road trip late on Sunday evening.

Via a phone interview with Reuters, he explained that his attempts to save the baby elephant were made all the more nerve-wracking by the fact that the baby elephant's mother was nearby and calling out to her calf.

He was only able to guess where the baby elephant's heart was thanks to a video that he had previously seen online and that he was on the verge of tears when the elephant stood up.

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The baby elephant was taken from the scene for treatment elsewhere, Reuters reports.

Afterward, it was returned to the accident scene so that it could be reunited with its mother, who managed to escape the scene without injury.

Thankfully, the other elephants returned to the scene when they heard that the calf had returned.

Srivate explained that the elephant was the only accident victim to survive through the use of cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

News of the baby elephant's remarkable recovery comes after a video emerged earlier this month showing the moment the "world's loneliest elephant" makes his first friend in years.