The young, Lily Kryzhanivskyy, a 9-year-old girl who was camping in the northwestern U.S. state of Washington, survived a cougar attack, which is very rare against humans, local police said.
The girl “was playing hide-and-seek in the woods near the campground” Saturday morning, May 28, with two other children when the cougar suddenly attacked her, authorities said in a statement.
“Transported by helicopter to the hospital with numerous injuries to her upper body and face,” she underwent several surgeries and emerged Monday from a coma “well aware of what happened to her,” according to her uncle Alex Mantsevich, who created an online fundraiser on the crowdfunding site GoFundMe.
Lily Kryzhanivskyy was in stable condition Tuesday, May 31, according to police.
Her uncle decided to appeal for financial help, especially for health expenses, which is accompanied by photos of the girl on her hospital bed, her face studded with large wounds similar to severe scratches.
The last attack on a man by a mountain lion was a century ago, only 20 people have suffered attacks by mountain lions in this wild and mountainous state, and two people have died, notes the Washington State Conservation Agency.
One of its spokeswomen told a local television station that they are conducting an investigation to better understand the circumstances of the attack.
The animal, shot by a bystander, was not rabid, according to tests performed on its remains.
Attacks by puma, a powerful feline also known as cougar and present on the American continent, are extremely rare, but the authorities recommend, if it happens, to do everything to “stay upright and give back”, and not to try to flee or play dead.
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