Mom Pries 7-Year-Old Son From The Jaws Of A Cougar In Act Of Heroism

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She Says A Higher Power Helped With The Save

One mom was completely and utterly NOT about to let some mountain lion drag her baby to the Jungle Book pits.

According to CTV News, a Canadian mom, Chelsea Lockhart, literally had to pry her 7-year-old child from a cougar’s mouth as it tried to drag him away outside their home on Vancouver Island.

“I looked at him and I just thought, ‘Oh my god, my kid could die right before my eyes,’” Chelsea Lockhart said. “All you think is, ‘What can you do? What can you do in your own physical strength?’ I’m so grateful for him to be alive.”

Lockhart explained that her little Zachery was playing in the backyard on Friday while she was in the house. All of a sudden, she heard the outside fence rattle. Apparently, a juvenile cougar was attempting to get through the small wire fence while opening its jaws as it stared down the boy. Lockhart said her son immediately went into safety mode.

“In that moment, he knew he was in danger, so he started taking off down this alleyway to get to the house. It pushed its way through, and you can see the scratch marks on the pole.”

Lockhart said when she heard the commotion outside, she made a run for her kid:

“I could hear his voice, I could hear struggling, so I ran down the stairs and ran to his voice and turned the corner, and I see this animal on my child.”

When Lockhart made it outside, she witnessed the cougar trying to drag her son away, and before she had time to process, she simply jumped into action:

“He was on the ground and the cougar was over him and it was attached to his arm. I had a mom instinct, right? I just leaped on it and tried to pry its mouth open.”

She then threw a hook at the cougar’s jaw to try and pry it off, knowing she was throwing hands for her son’s life:

“I looked at him and I just thought, ‘Oh my god, my kid could die right before my eyes.’ All you think is what can you do? What can you do in your own physical strength?”

That’s when Lockhart said she had to look to the Lord!

“I knew that in my own power and my own strength, I wasn’t going to be able to pry its mouth open. So I start praying in tongues, and I’m just crying out to the Lord, just this really deep from the depths of inside of me. Three sentences into me praying, it released and it ran away.”

Look at God!

Once the cougar fled, Zachery was left with a four-centimeter gash on the crown of his head. He also injured his neck and arms. Once he arrived to the hospital, he received stitches for his head wound and is expected to fully recover.

“Everybody’s recovering today and Zach’s resting at his grandma’s. We’ve had so much support from the community that every time I go out, everyone’s hugging me and just tearing up, asking how we’re doing, and that helps so much,” Lockhart said.

The cougar that attacked the boy and another juvenile male cougar believed to be their brother were put down by conservation officers. It’s believed the animals had been separated from their mom for a couple of months. The animals were most likely starving at the time of the attack.

The family has since set up a live trap in their backyard and a live camera in case the momma cougar stops by the area. They’re also planning to get a dog.

“We’re so grateful that Zach is going to be OK and that he’s alive. I like to say I’m doing OK because the circumstances could’ve been a lot worse, and we’ve got our baby boy,” Lockhart said.