The cougar tried to break his neck and that's when a family friend dropped a huge rock on the animal.
An 8-year-old boy miraculously survived after being mauled by a cougar. He needed 200 staples to pull his back and neck together. The incident happened at Bishop River near Rocky Mountain House in Canada's Rocky Mountains, as reported by Canada Today. Cason was camping with his sisters, a family friend, and three others when the big cat attacked him from the back. Reportedly, his entire head was said to be in the cougar's jaws. The cougar tried to break his neck and that's when the family friend, Alishea Morrison, 40, came in and dropped a huge rock on the animal. The cougar got shocked and left the boy.
Alishea Morrison said she acted on pure instinct when she saved seven-year old Cason Feuser from a cougar attack Sunday. https://t.co/LbyWHjW7qo
— Dave Agar (@dave1agar) August 4, 2022
He was airlifted to Stollery Children's Hospital, in Edmonton, Alberta. His parents who were eight hours' drive away from him boarded the flight and reached the hospital at the right time. When Chay and Corey Feuser arrived at the hospital, they saw the punctured wounds on his neck and face. Alishea recalled the incident, "Cason's sister Addisyn looked back and screamed 'cougar' and that's when I jumped up and came around behind Cason and the cougar and I saw Cason within the cougar's jaws. The cougar tried to pull him up towards the campsite as all the kids were running towards the trailer. I looked at the cougar and reacted how any mum would and I grabbed a rock and hit the cougar in the head — it took off towards the camper and then my dog Jersey chased it away from the kids," she said.
She added that an ambulance came to them in 26 minutes, she worried if he would make it as his injuries "were quite significant," she said. The boy's mother, Chay, thinks that the dogs were the reason the cougar didn't attack Alishea. "I think at that moment if she didn't have the dogs with her, the cougar would've attacked her,” she said. She knows that without Alishea her son wouldn't have made it. “She saw the cougar jolt Cason to try and break his neck so she was sure if she had been a second longer the cougar would've been on its way into the woods with him."
She said that as they were scrambling to be with Cason, his doctor kept giving updates to them. "He (the doctor) just kept saying it was a miracle — his airway was missed by one millimeter, his jugular [vein] got missed and his skull wasn't cracked," said Chay. Now the child has made a full recovery but his injuries put him in the operating theater for 3.5 hours.
He is currently going through a silicone wrap treatment for his injuries.
Chay wrote on Facebook: "It’s a miracle. No main arteries were hit, no lungs were punctured, and his skull is intact. He suffers from a fractured jaw and severe cosmetic injuries. Thank you to every single person who lifted him up (us up) in prayer. Thank you to those who met me at the hospital so he had someone he knew when he landed. Thank you to those who brought my other children up and packed suitcases for my entire family. Thank you for all the love and support we have been receiving through this incredibly difficult time."
References:
https://canadatoday.news/ab/alta-woman-saves-7-year-old-boy-from-cougar-6552/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_7ysuRgTrQ
Cover Image Source: YouTube | CTV News
