Man Wrestles Cougar - Saves BOY!
MuleyMadness
8/9/07 8:47pm
Pretty cool story here...
VANCOUVER -- A Kamloops boy is recovering in hospital after his friend's father rescued him from a vicious cougar attack in the B.C. Interior.
Colton Reeb, 12, was airlifted to B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver after a harrowing escape.
Clinton RCMP Cpl. Pete Bes said Colton was camping with a friend and her family at their summer residence near Clinton, about 150 kilometres northeast of Kamloops.
When he walked toward the outhouse after dinner, the cougar attacked. The family heard him screaming.
Mark Patterson, a soccer coach from Kamloops, kicked and punched the cat and grabbed it around the neck to pull it off the boy, said Bes. The cougar turned on him as he fell to the ground.
Bes said Colton ran away and Patterson managed to get back on his feet and ward off the cougar by waving his arms, yelling and backing away.
The family fled to the Clinton RCMP detachment in their truck, where the detachment commander's wife administered first aid while the officer radioed for an ambulance. Colton was transferred to Kelowna by air ambulance, and was then airlifted to Vancouver, said Bes.
Colton was in surgery Thursday morning with claw marks and bites to his head, face, neck and upper chest. The hospital said in a news release that Colton is "resting and in good condition, which means vital signs are stable and within normal limits."
The statement also said Colton's parents said he is in high spirits and feels "ripped off" that he didn't get all five days of camping.
Patterson is a hero, said one of his neighbours.
"I think he's a very brave man," said Faith Crosson. "Mark is the hero, as far as we're all concerned. He saved that young boy's life."
Crosson said about four years ago she had a cougar in her yard. A few weeks later, it turned up in the Patterson's yard.
"It's almost like a favourite place for them because of the terrain ... it's quite mountainous and well-treed," said Crosson.
Conservation officers are now looking for the mother and brother of the cougar who attacked the boy, said Crosson. They told her the female is in heat and calling to other cougars.
Vancouver Province
lapayton@png.canwest.com
© CanWest News Service 2007
VANCOUVER -- A Kamloops boy is recovering in hospital after his friend's father rescued him from a vicious cougar attack in the B.C. Interior.
Colton Reeb, 12, was airlifted to B.C. Children's Hospital in Vancouver after a harrowing escape.
Clinton RCMP Cpl. Pete Bes said Colton was camping with a friend and her family at their summer residence near Clinton, about 150 kilometres northeast of Kamloops.
When he walked toward the outhouse after dinner, the cougar attacked. The family heard him screaming.
Mark Patterson, a soccer coach from Kamloops, kicked and punched the cat and grabbed it around the neck to pull it off the boy, said Bes. The cougar turned on him as he fell to the ground.
Bes said Colton ran away and Patterson managed to get back on his feet and ward off the cougar by waving his arms, yelling and backing away.
The family fled to the Clinton RCMP detachment in their truck, where the detachment commander's wife administered first aid while the officer radioed for an ambulance. Colton was transferred to Kelowna by air ambulance, and was then airlifted to Vancouver, said Bes.
Colton was in surgery Thursday morning with claw marks and bites to his head, face, neck and upper chest. The hospital said in a news release that Colton is "resting and in good condition, which means vital signs are stable and within normal limits."
The statement also said Colton's parents said he is in high spirits and feels "ripped off" that he didn't get all five days of camping.
Patterson is a hero, said one of his neighbours.
"I think he's a very brave man," said Faith Crosson. "Mark is the hero, as far as we're all concerned. He saved that young boy's life."
Crosson said about four years ago she had a cougar in her yard. A few weeks later, it turned up in the Patterson's yard.
"It's almost like a favourite place for them because of the terrain ... it's quite mountainous and well-treed," said Crosson.
Conservation officers are now looking for the mother and brother of the cougar who attacked the boy, said Crosson. They told her the female is in heat and calling to other cougars.
Vancouver Province
© CanWest News Service 2007
3,098
Good to hear that the boy came through it all in fairly good condition. After all, he was a little upset that he missed a couple days campin'.