A five-year-old boy miraculously survived being attacked by a puma while out hiking with his mother in Northern California.
Jack Trexler suffered a fracture near his eye, cuts on his face plus multiple scratches and bruises in the horror attack near his home in Half Moon Bay on 31 January.
His mother Suzie Trexler chased off the big cat and immediately rushed her injured son to the hospital.
“The mountain lion picked the wrong kid and mama to mess with,” Jack’s aunt Amie Wagner told Jam Press.
“Jack and his mom bravely fought off the attack but he was left with some battle wounds in the process.
“Jack has many lacerations, especially on his precious face, in addition to a fracture near one eye.
“He is covered in cuts, bruises and scratches but his spirit remains intact.”
The boy’s father Jay Trexler told Jam Press that the family have been living in the area for over 12 years and know the risks of hiking the area, but there was no way to prepare for Jack’s brush with a mountain lion.
“We carry bear spray to be safe. Those precautions didn’t matter in this case,” Mr Trexler said.
“He wasn’t too far ahead of my wife when the animal was startled and reacted.
“It happened so fast. Fortunately, my wife reacted immediately. She charged at the cat and it ran off.
“She then carried our son back down the hill and got him to the hospital quickly.”
Jack was treated at the Stanford Pediatric Trauma centre and is now recovering at home.
“When he recounted the story to me, he said: ‘Dad, a mountain lion tackled me,’” Mr Trexler said.
“Two days after the incident, the swelling in his eye is going down. This will be helpful to fully assess if he’ll need surgery or not.
“We are going to give our son all the love and care he needs, and then when he is absolutely ready, we’ll start hiking again because that is what we do.
“We are an outdoor-loving family, and this experience will not take that away from us. I think it’s important to not be afraid of mountain lions but to take care and be alert when you are in their habitat.”
Mr Trexler added: “We are grateful the cat wasn’t bigger and that it didn’t bite our son because it would have been a different story.”
Amie Wagner launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money for little Jack’s treatment.
As of 6 February, the campaign has raised $35,500.
Meanwhile, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife said the puma involved in the attack will not be removed from the wild.
A spokesperson said: “Since the day of the attack, CDFW and allied agency personnel have been denied access to the primary private property and adjacent private properties for the purpose of attempting to capture the offending mountain lion.
“This lack of access, combined with worsening weather and the nomadic nature of mountain lions has diminished the chances for a successful capture of the offending mountain lion.”
Puma attacks on humans in California are considered rare and only 20 confirmed cases have been reported in over a century.
