USA: Eight-year-old survives puma attack

Various facts

Pike Carlson, eight years old, was playing in his garden with his brother when he was attacked by a puma.

This young American lives in Colorado with his family. The two brothers were interrupted by a puma who violently attacked Pike. As the animal bit him in the face, the boy found the courage to struggle. "I hit him and I tried to catch anything. I finally found a stick and I tried to plant it in my eye, but the stick broke", he explained in a 9News report.

Fortunately, Pike's brother went to call his father for help. Ron Carlson, the children's dad, came out of the house at full speed and managed to scare the animal away. The father, still in shock, says: "His head was inside the cougar's mouth (…). You understand right away that you have to do something. No matter what happens, you owe it to yourself to protect your child. When I got it back, I saw that the side of his face was open and bleeding (…). It's something no parent should see".

Pike is alive. He gets away with sixty stitches and an operation to heal his eyeball. The cougar was found and euthanized.