Saving life is a true humanitarian act which is praiseworthy and more so if it is that of a non-human being. This is what 38-year-old M. Prabhu of Kunnam taluk in Tamil Nadu’s Perambalur did, when he saved a monkey from dying, and the video clipping of this has gone viral, winning him praise from everyone.

A car driver by profession, Prabhu had found the primate lying injured on a tree in Kunnam taluk’s Othiyam Samathuvapuram. The creature had been chased and attacked by a pack of dogs and had received injuries in several places.

Moving in to rescue the creature, Prabhu first chased away the dogs, retrieving it from the tree and giving water but the primate remained unconscious. Wanting to provide immediate medical care to the animal, he rushed on his two-wheeler to his friend in a veterinary hospital. While proceeding to the place on the Perambalur-Ariyalur Road, Prabhu realised that the monkey was sinking, making him park on the roadside and trying to revive the creature by pumping the heart. He even tried to resuscitate it by breathing into its mouth.

In a conversation with The New Indian Express, Prabhu said: "I was scared when the monkey climbed the tree with injuries and fell unconscious. I rescued it and gave it water. But it did not drink and I was very upset. I did not want to leave it in the forest in that condition. I did not think about anything, but breathed into its mouth."

Following admission to the hospital, the monkey, who is eight months old, was given a vaccine and glucose. After recovering the creature was handed over to the forest department.

Happy at the revival of the monkey, Prabhu commented: "When I took it to the hospital, I thought it would be dead, but with treatment it regained consciousness.”

Prabhu’s training in first-aid helped him a great deal in saving the life of the monkey. He had undergone the course in Thanjavur in 2010.

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