A father saved his 4-year-old child during a mountain lion attack at Olympic National Park in Washington State on Sunday afternoon.
The family was hiking a popular trail in the park when a collared mountain lion bit the child, according to a National Park Service (NPS) report. Witnesses dubbed the father a “hero,” claiming his quick actions in removing his child from the mountain lion “saved the child’s life,” according to KIRO 7, a Seattle-based CBS affiliate. (RELATED: Woman Gets Stalked By Mountain Lion In Pure Nightmare Fuel Video)
“I don’t think that kid would survive if it wasn’t for his dad jumping in,” Steve Murrow, who was hiking the same trail at the time of the attack and saw the aftermath, told KIRO 7. “I mean, he’s a hero. You know, it just boils down to safety in numbers and it is rare that something like this would happen.”
Katira, a 3-year-old female mountain lion (Puma concolor) that lost her left eye and has paralysis on that side of her face after being hit by a car, is pictured at the Las Pumas Rescue and Sanctuary Center, where she has been recovering for 3 months in Guanacaste, Costa Rica on April 17, 2025. The Las Pumas (cat) Rescue Center is located in an old farmland called Hacienda La Pacifica, in the heart of the Area de Conservación Guanacaste World Heritage Site. Most animals are brought to the Rescue Center by government officials, rescued from human interaction. After rehabilitation, many species are reintroduced to the wild with the approval of veterinary care. (Photo by EZEQUIEL BECERRA/AFP via Getty Images)
The child was airlifted to a nearby medical center to be treated and has since been discharged.
NPS began a search for the mountain lion after the attack on Sunday and dispatched the mountain lion on Monday morning. Mountain lion sightings are rare in Olympic National Park, according to NPS.
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