THE BALLOON MAN

Elephant keeper: Animal 'loves me'  

MICHAEL FIELD, MICHELLE COOKE, SARAH HARVEY AND MICHAEL FOX 

Last updated 12:18 26/04/20

Helen Schofield's neighbour Bill Currie says Helen told him Mila the elephant "loves me."

The woman crushed to death by an elephant told a neighbour recently that the animal "loves me". 

Helen Schofield was crushed to death yesterday when the elephant she had spent two years nursing back to health picked her up in its trunk and lifted her into the air, Auckland SPCA executive director Bob Kerridge said. 

Schofield was the owner and director of Franklin Zoo, 56km south of Auckland. Emergency services were called to the zoo at about 4.30pm after receiving reports that Schofield had been killed by the 3.1-tonne animal. 

She had cared for Mila, formerly known as Jumbo, after it ended her working life as a circus elephant. She would even give the elephant a hug to help it get to sleep at night. 

read more at:http://www.stuff.co.nz/national/6807557/Elephant-keeper-Animal-loves-me