Wounded donkey’s eyes almost speak as her healing begins.

Someone noticed a donkey in a field whose bone was exposed from a devastating friction wound, made worse by maggots. Our rescuers found that she flinched whenever we lifted our hands to caress and lead her, telling us that she didn’t trust people. During her first treatment she lay perfectly still, her ears oriented backwards in fear and defeat. Her eyes spoke so deeply and with so much complexity it is hard to summarize in just a word. They held anguish, resignation, fatigue. But they also radiated kindness, announcing her profound sweetness. As soon as we eased her pain with medicine, stabilizing bandages and a splint, her glow of life brightened--you could just see it. Watch this girl, so inward and dejected at the start, unfurl her beautiful wings and beam with life as she heals. We call her Butterfly. You’ll see why.