A five-year-old boy was brutally attacked by a mountain lion in California before his mother had to snatch the animal from him, leaving his face cut and bruised.
Jack Trexler, 5, of Half Moon, was attacked near his home around 6:50 p.m. Tuesday. His mother, Suzie Trexler, had to fight the animal away from her son, who sustained several “battle wounds.”
“He’s the bravest, most adventurous little guy I’ve ever met, and I’m not surprised that if there was a kid who could wrestle a mountain lion and come out on top, it would be Jack,” his aunt Amie wrote Wagner on GoFundMe, which raised more than $26,000 in one day.
“Jack has many cuts, particularly on his precious face, in addition to a fracture near one eye. He’s covered in cuts, bruises and scratches, but his spirit remains intact.’
Jack Trexler, 5, of Half Moon, was attacked near his home around 6:50 p.m. Tuesday
His mother, Suzie Trexler, had to fight the animal away from her son, who was left with several “battle wounds.”
The family were told that the mountain lion – who didn’t bite Jack, just clawed it – barely missed a nerve near his eye by an inch.
Jack was walking down Tunitas Creek Road in front of his mother and grandparents when a mountain lion pounced on him near his family’s farm, Potrero Nuevo. The mountain lion was given a drink and the family suspects he was startled by Jack, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Suzie attacked the animal after it started attacking her child. As she approached, the animal let go of Jack. Suzie immediately put her arms around her child and “ran down the hill” to get him to safety, taking him to a local hospital.
Jack was later transferred to a trauma center, Wagner told the San Francisco Chronicle.
“Jack has many cuts, particularly on his precious face, in addition to a fracture near one eye. He’s covered in cuts, bruises and scratches, but his spirit is intact,” his aunt said
Jack was walking down Tunitas Creek Road in front of his mother and grandparents when a mountain lion pounced on him near his family’s farm, Potrero Nuevo. The mountain lion was given a drink and the family suspects that Jack scared him
The child is currently recovering from the attack at his home with his family and is expected to make a full recovery.
“Suzie is a really strong mom and she’s a hero,” Wagner told the Chronicle. “It was obviously traumatic but I think she’s ready to focus on the positive knowing how much worse it could have been.”
Fish and Wildlife Department captain Patrick Foy agreed, saying: “The attack was very, very vicious in nature. Everything indicates that (the mother) saved her son’s life.’
Authorities are still searching for the mountain lion and have collected DNA from Jack’s wounds in an effort to locate him.
Authorities have taken the animal’s DNA samples from Jack’s wounds to help locate the animal, but the mountain lion is currently still on the loose
It was the second such incident in California in less than a year and comes after a seven-year-old boy was hospitalized after being bitten by a lion near Los Angeles
If the animal is caught, “it will not be released back into the wild,” Foy said, but didn’t elaborate on the exact plans for the young mountain lion.
“People often ask us to just take (mountain lions) and release them ‘in the middle of nowhere,’ but the location of this attack is described as ‘in the middle of nowhere,'” Foy told the Chronicle.
It was the second such incident in California in less than a year and comes after a seven-year-old boy was hospitalized after being bitten by a lion near Los Angeles.
Mountain lion sightings are common, but attacks are not. About 20 confirmed attacks have occurred in California in more than a century, according to the Department of Fish and Wildlife.
“If you are attacked, fight back. That’s probably the most important thing people need to understand. It’s not something to play dead with. You have to fight for your life,’ Foy said.