A 9-year-old girl miraculously survived a cougar attack after playing hide-and-seek with two friends at a church camp in Spokane, Washington state. According to the Washington Post, the girl jumped out to surprise her friends in the woods when the cougar attacked on Saturday.
During the attack, the girl tried to fight back while her friends ran for their lives. Adults rushed to help and found the girl covered in blood. The young victim, identified as Lily A. Kryzhanivskyy, was soon flown to a hospital, where she’s recovering after surgery for multiple wounds to her head and upper body. Others found the young male cougar and killed it.
Fish and Wildlife spokeswoman Staci Lehman says cougar attacks are rare, with only two fatalities in the last century in Washington state.
“In this instance, this little girl did nothing wrong,” she said. “It happened so quickly, and there’s nothing she could have done to prevent it.”
Anyone confronted by a cougar should yell at the animal and try to make yourself look bigger than it is, she said. If it attacks, “fight back as hard as you can and try to stay on your feet.”
“Do not turn around. Don’t take your eyes off the animal,” Lehman added. “Don’t run.”
