A seven-year-old Canadian boy is recovering in a hospital after a mountain lion attacked him as he played with friends while camping.
It happened near the small, remote town of Rocky Mountain House about 130 miles north of Calgary, Alberta, and 140 miles east of Jasper National Park.
According to the boy’s mother, Chay Feuser, the boy was at a campground next to a busy road used by trucks to gain access to the river when the animal jumped him. Feuser’s neighbor, who took the boy and other children camping, hit the mountain lion with a rock, causing it to release the boy.
“We made it to the hospital just in time to kiss him, say hello and at the same time say goodbye, and hand him over to the surgeons where he spent 3.5 hours in surgery. Over 200 staples and surgical clamps, and many more stitches over his face, neck, and head,” Chay Feuser wrote in a Facebook post.
Alberta Fish and Wildlife personnel located the mountain lion and put it down.
“It’s a miracle. No main arteries were hit, no lungs punctured, his skull is intact. He suffers from a fractured jaw, and severe cosmetic injuries,” wrote Feuser.
(Photo credit: Chay Feuser Facebook page)