In a Facebook post that went viral last week, a Thai woman shared a story about how she treated her pet goldfish and managed to save its life even though its tail and part of its body had rotted away.

In a post that ended up gathering over 110,000 likes on Facebook, Kanya Tantiwiwatkul wrote that six months ago she noticed that her pet goldfish wasn’t feeling too well. Its tail had rotted away completely, and part of its flesh had started to do the same to the point where she could already see bones sticking out. That’s when she took some photos of it and then went to an aquarium fish shop to ask for any medicine that might help. After seeing the pictures, the vendor told her that the fish had no chance and recommended that she throw it away and get a new pet. Kanya didn’t want to give up on the goldfish, so she bought some medicine and over the next six months nursed it back to health.

Photo: Kanya Tantiwiwatkul/Facebook

On September 12, about six months after she started treating her pet, giving it the medicine daily and changing its water regularly, Kanya Tantiwiwatkul posted a photo that showed just how far the little fish had come. The backside of its body was completely regenerated, and it had even started growing back part of its tails, which, judging by the “before” photo, seems nothing short of miraculous.

Photo: Kanya Tantiwiwatkul/Facebook

“Although your (the fish) tail is not perfect, it is very strong and can swim well. You are very cute and strong, very determined to survive. I believe with a little more care you will only get better,” Kanya wrote on Facebook.

Photo: Kanya Tantiwiwatkul/Facebook

If that is indeed the same fish as in the “before” photo, there’s no doubt it was pretty lucky to survive and recover the way it did. Somehow the rot may not have affected its vital organs, but I still wonder how it could have survived without a tail or the whole back part of its body for that matter.

Photo: Kanya Tantiwiwatkul/Facebook