Cason Feuser is suffering from nightmares and going through intense surgeries after a Sunday morning cougar attack that his mother says nearly took his life.
Chay Feuser, Cason’s mother, says her children went camping with their neighbor and his children over the weekend in the Rocky Mountain House area.
The six kids were playing by the river when Chay says that out of nowhere, a cougar started attacking Cason.
“The kids turned and started screaming and running [our neighbour]screaming, ‘Cougar, cougar, cougar!'” he told CBC News.
Chay said the neighbor picked up a rock and threw it at the cougar. He hit the cougar on the head and freed “Cason from his death grip,” he said.
Cason was transported by STARS Air Ambulance to the University of Alberta Hospital in stable condition.
There, he underwent a three-and-a-half-hour operation, according to Chay.
“He has over 200 surgical staples and forceps right above his skull, and many more stitches to his face, neck and throat. He just had the drainage tube removed from his neck. He is on morphine. Tylenol and Advil are not . enough to reduce the pain,” Chay said.
The cougar missed Cason’s jugular vein by millimeters, Chay said. Because the animal was smaller, it was unable to puncture the boy’s skull.
Cason is shown in the hospital after the attack. (Chay Feuser/Facebook)
Later that day, Alberta Fish and Wildlife found and euthanized the cougar just 150 meters from where the attack took place.
Rob Kohut with Fish and Wildlife Enforcement Services said while cougar attacks are rare, it’s important to be cautious when outdoors.
“If you see a cougar in the distance, do not run or turn your back,” he said in an emailed statement.
“If a cougar hisses and growls or stares and follows your movements, don’t run and play dead. Make yourself look big and speak up. If the cougar makes contact, fight and don’t give up. all the means at your disposal”.
Despite his serious injuries, Chay says Cason was more concerned about whether the other children were attacked and whether they were safe.
“He’s been crying a lot and making sure everyone else that was with him was okay. He kept asking about his sister, and if the cougar had just gotten her and if they were okay.”