Thai veterinarian Thaweesak Anansiriwatana is feeling the love online for this treatment of a large monitor lizard that became paralyzed after being hit by a car.

The poor creature, whom the vet endearingly refers to as “Nong Hia,” has also endured attacks from other monitors as well as from humans.

Thaweesak posted about the lizard on his Facebook page on Monday and almost immediately became an internet sensation. His post about caring for the injured lizard has racked up 19,000 reactions and been shared more than 3,000 times.

The good-hearted veterinarian explained that an animal lover that found the lizard brought it to his animal clinic in Pathum Thani. The person said that the monitor lizard was hit by a car and it tried to find a safe place to nurse itself by crawling under a house but the homeowners attacked it. It also has wounds from being bitten by other lizards.

The lizard was on the verge of death when it arrived at Thaweesak’s clinic. It could hardly move and an X-ray revealed that it also had a fishing hook stuck in its throat.

He wrote, “I would like to thank the person who brought this giant lizard here. The X-ray scan found that it had an injury at the spine near its neck, paralyzing almost the entire body. It has to lie still but the sides of the body and tail have gone numb. Let’s pray for its recovery.”

Facebook users applauded him for looking after the not-very-attractive creature. “You have a beautiful heart,” one user wrote. “Please accept my respect,” read another comment.

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