At the young age of two, Mosha, an Asian female elephant, lost her front right leg due to a landmine injury along the Thai-Burmese border.

Balancing heavy bone and muscle along with her astonishing height of 8 feet, Mosha experienced much difficulty. She limps while walking and lifts up her damaged leg as if she is still in pain.

“I thought that I should do something for her,” said Dr. Therdchai Jivacate of Lampang, Thailand.

Dr. Jivacate works with the World’s First Asian Elephant Hospital located in the MaeYao National Reserve of Lampang, Thailand. Since it opened, more than 4,000 injured and sick elephants have been treated. Dr. Jivacate is the first to invent the prosthetic or “artificial” leg for the elephant.

Using his knowledge and experience as an orthopedic surgeon, Dr. Jivacate and his team re-design Mosha’s prosthetic leg every few years to account for her growing weight and size.

“This is a challenge for me, too,” he said. “Every time we fix it, we improve it.”

Dr. Jivacate described his process in improving the life of Mosha as “trial and error.” And because an elephant never forgets, Mosha still remembers him from 15 years ago when he first did an operation on her foot.

“I think it means so much for her,” said Dr. Jivecate. “She can live a normal life as she should be.”