Lilly is a beautiful female elephant, named by Lek's volunteers. They gave her the name Lilly because she has a beautiful face, ears, and trunk, and like a lily flower. A logging company bought her, and took her to be trained as a logging elephant. When Lilly was eight years old she began serving her human masters in the logging industry.

She spent most her time carrying the logs up and down the mountains around northern Thailand. Her daily life consisted mainly of pulling logs. After work she would have a happy hour, where her mahout released her to the relative freedom to roam in the jungle.

Lilly	With hope at the Haven

Lek and her team found Lilly during a Jumbo Express trip. When they saw Lilly, she was alone and tied to a tree. Lilly was dying. Her face and her body were swollen and wounds that covered her whole body. Lek talked with the owners to ask their permission to let her and her vet team to take care of Lilly.

The owners seemed to realize that there was little hope, that Lilly had little chance to survive, and that they had no choice in this case. The owner decided to put Lilly's life in Lek's hands. Lek and her team moved Lilly away  and put her in a better environment that was quiet, peaceful, and beside the river. Each inch that Lilly walked seemed to take forever. Every step, lifting her legs seemed to be so heavy for her that Lek and her volunteers started walking beside her, trying to cheer her up and make her feel more confident about reaching the river. Everyone was so thankful that Lilly had the will to live and make herself walk to the river. It gave the volunteers the inspiration to start working on her recovery. Lek believed herbal cures would be best for her at that time and used to treat Lilly. Tamarind and vegetable oil were used to clear her stomach, and subsequently she was put on a fasting program. She had to drink a lot to clear out the poisons from her body. It took three months to wake Lilly up from her nightmare.

The owners were so happy and appreciative to see Lilly getting better that they prepared to take her back to work again. Having seen Lilly's will to live, Lek wanted a real life and freedom for Lilly. She never wanted Lilly to have to go back to be a slave again and so Lek went back home to get all of her savings and buy Lilly's freedom. Her negotiation turned out a success, and the owner agreed to sell her. Lek transferred Lilly to the Elephant Nature Park.

During her first week at the park, Lilly looked very sad. She was not familiar with the freedom, and maybe she never expected that. She would stand up with her trunk hung down. Lek tried to please her by giving her fruits and different varieties of foods, but Lilly was still upset and tears rolled down her eyes. Finally, Lek sent her car and driver to pick up Lilly's ex-mahout. Lilly was so happy to see him, even though he treated her with cruelty before. He stayed with Lilly's new mahout for a month, until she accepted her new mahout.

Today, Lilly has freedom at elephant haven, and stays with her other friends, which Lek has rescued and joined together. She still walks, eats, and moves very slowly. Her eyes sometimes still look half awake and half asleep, due to the drugs that damaged her brain and body.

The time that she is staying at Elephant Haven will help her to become a happy Lilly again. Lek believes that love can heal many things and Lilly will be her priority. Every week, volunteers that love and care for her visit Lilly. Thanks to Lilly brave stance to get over her terrible earlier life she has become victorious and will never have to go back to pull the logs again and her nightmare will disappear into sweet dreams of freedom.

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