EAST PALATKA, Fla. -- A mother calf named Della, from the the St. Johns River in East Palatka, was brought back to her home Wednesday after being rehabilitated in Tampa at the Lowry Park Zoo.

She was rescued by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission with the help of volunteers at the Jacksonville Zoo after she was hit by a boat.

Della suffered a chest injury, fractured ribs and a collapsed lung from the accident.

"It was kind of double trouble when she first came to us," one animal expert said. "She was very, very pregnant, so we were worried about the baby, but luckily it all turned out well."

Just four days later, she gave birth to a 76-pound baby named Pal.

"Then we let mom and baby develop," the expert said. "Cow-calf companionship they needed, then we could start working on Della."

Not long afterward, Della also became a surrogate to an orphan rescued in Yankeetown in desperate need of a mother's care.

"It was like mom all of a sudden had twins," the expert said.

Now that everyone has been nursed back to health, animal experts are bringing Della back to her home in Palatka so she can start a new life with her babies.

"She's a local animal, now we put her back into her neighborhood," the expert said. "She knows where she's at and she's going to teach her babies where they're at, where to go for warm water, good places to go, how to avoid boats and how to survive the environment here in Florida."