A parent’s worst nightmare took place in Washington state when a 9-year-old girl was attacked by a cougar while she was playing outside.
Lily Kryzhanivskyy was playing hide and seek with her friends at a camp site near Fruitland, Washington when a cougar pounced on her, viciously attacking her and attempting to drag her into the woods. Her friends quickly rushed to find adults to help their friend who was fighting for life against the big cat.
Lily’s mom Yelena Kryzhanivskyy told K5 Seattle:
“They were playing hide and seek. She jumped out from her hiding spot to surprise a friend and a cougar jumped on her and attacked her.”
The attacks happened around 11 a.m. in the morning, with the cougar going out in the open in broad daylight to pounce on the 9-year-old. Once help arrived, Lily was quickly transported to the hospital and put into the intensive care unit.
Before officials could arrive to the scene, those in the area were doing their best to distract and disarm the cougar, with some individuals even throwing rocks at the animal.
Yelana described how the cougar was eventually put down, and asked why it would have chosen to attack her daughter:
“Someone that was there did respond and did kill the cougar, pretty much immediately. So that happened very quickly.
Was the cougar starving? Was it sick? Anything like that that may have led to it being more apt to attack.”
After testing the animal, wildlife officials found that it did not have rabies or any other disease that might have helped to provoke the attack. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife still does not know what caused the cougar to pounce on the 9-year-old.
Lily finally awoke from a coma two days after her intensive surgery, and was happy to talk to her mom about the incident and the corresponding news coverage.
Her mom elaborated in her interview with the news station, saying:
“She knew it was a big deal, what happened to her, and she had seen some media coverage. She was a little disappointed that people didn’t know who she was.
She did tell me that she wanted people to know that she is very tough and very brave.”
Probably the toughest and bravest 9-year-old to ever walk the face of the Earth.
A GoFundMe that was set up to help the Kryzhanivskyy family has garnered $109,616 dollars in donations since its creation, and just recently closed the fundraiser.
Cougar attacks in the state of Washington are apparently incredibly rare, with only 20 happening over the course of the last 100 years. Lily must have just been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and even though the cougar got a jump on her, the “tough as nails” 9-year-old pulled through.
You can view the news story about the attack below:
