A five-year-old boy named Jack Trexler was brutally attacked by a mountain lion on January 31 during a hike with his mom and grandparents in California.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife said that the boy could have died if his mother, Suzie Trexler, hadn’t fought with the cougar and protected her son during the attack, close to the family’s property on Tunitas Creek Road near Half Moon Bay in San Mateo County.
The boy’s parents brought him to a local hospital with lacerations and a cracked bone close to his eye.
A search for the mountain lion was conducted, but officials couldn’t locate the animal.
A similar incident occurred last September in Southern California’s Santa Clarita Valley. A seven-year-old child was attacked by a mountain lion while on a walk with his father. The child was treated for minor injuries after the father scared the animal away.
The Department of Fish and Wildlife reports there have been around 20 verified attacks in California over the past 100 years, and only three have been fatal.
Department of Fish and Wildlife Captain Patrick Foy had a warning for the public. “If attacked, fight back. That’s probably the most important thing for people to understand. It’s not something where you play dead. You have to fight for your life.”