'Tried to stick a stick in the eye': in Colorado, an 8-year-old boy fought off a cougar with a stick

Puma grabbed Pike Carlson by the head and dragged him down the slope near a house in Bailey, Colorado. 8-year-old boy tried to resist.

Фото: Depositphotos

This is a story of courage in the most terrible circumstances.

Pike was playing in the backyard of his home in Bailey, Colorado, with his older brother Gage when a cougar attacked him. The Carlson family lives in a rural highlands, but they said they had never seen a cougar near their home before.

When Gage ran into the house and told his parents what had happened, the boy's dad, Ron Carlson, ran out to help his youngest son.

"It's a parental instinct to protect your child, — said Ron Carlson. “All I knew was that I had to do it.” No matter what happens to me, I have to protect my children."

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Puma grabbed Pike by the head and dragged him under a tree. Pike screamed for help, but at the same time made active attempts to fight off the animal. The 8-year-old boy bravely fought with the 65-pound (30 kg) cougar.

“I found a stick and tried to stick it into the animal’s eye, but soon the stick broke,” — told Pike.

Ron Carlson recalls the words of his son: “Dad, all animals have a vulnerable spot, their eyeballs,” my son told me. So he picked up a stick that was under the tree and reached back, trying to poke the predator in the eye.”

“When I picked up my son, I saw that part of his face was injured. There was blood on it. His scalp was torn in several places. It was something no parent should see,” the boy’s father admitted.

Puma released Pike when Ron Carlson got to his son.

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The family put the child in their car and drove to the nearest fire station. Paramedics from the fire department of Platte Canyon took him to a Swedish hospital. He had two operations, and he needed dozens of stitches and staples to close his wounds.

“That first night in the hospital, even though the doctors said everything would be fine, I just kept remembering what could have happened, — said Julie Carlson, Pike's mother. “What if Gage, my eldest, hadn’t been able to tell us what had happened in time?” What if my husband didn’t get there in time?”

Soldering may still need another operation to restore part of his century that was damaged during the attack. The scars will heal, but the story of courage and survival that Pike Carlson tells will never disappear.

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