Credits: Social Media
Female cyclist tries to punch Mountain Lion in an attack that felt like being ‘mobbed’
A woman, who was attacked by a Mountain Lion during a bicycle ride, considered herself “lucky” after getting away without damaging any of her vital organs despite sustaining several puncture wounds.
The female cyclist uses her story of survival to bring awareness to the perils of wild animals on the road. She also thanked her friend and fellow cyclist, Debi, without whom she wouldn’t have gotten out of the Mountain Lion’s strong grip.
Female cyclist tries to punch a Mountain Lion during an attack
It was January 2004 and Anne Hjelle invited her friend Debi to join her on a 45-minute bicycle ride at Whiting Ranch.
They started around 3:45 PM and a few minutes into the ride, when they came around a blind corner, they saw a man and another bike propped against the bushes. The man said the bike was “abandoned” and he was looking for the owner.
Anne and Debi continued to ride when they hit a twisty section, and the former saw a flash of “reddish-brown fur” through her peripheral vision.
At first, she thought it was a deer, but then, the animal plunged forward and grabbed her. She soon realized: “Theres only one animal that would attempt that; I knew it was a mountain lion.”
The wild animal latched onto her shoulder and tried to bite into the back of the neck, which the survivor described was as painful as “getting hit by a truck.”
“The cat started to drag me down into the ravine. It had me by the back of the neck and I tried to punch its face but it didnt have any effect,” she recollected. Debi held Anne by her calf and was in a tug of war with the animal while crying for help. The animal’s grip around Anne was firm.
The lion dragged her several feet and readjusted its grip around her neck. At this point, Anne thought it was the “end of my life.”
Woman sustained multiple puncture wounds but survived
Her friend’s scream managed to gather more cyclists and they started throwing rocks at the mountain lion. It finally let go of Anne when one of the stones landed on its head.
Looking back at the most terrifying moment of her life, Anne told The Guardian: “I remember being very shocked that I had woken up and that the cat was gone. I was choking on my own blood and it felt as if I was drowning.”
“The left side of my face felt like someone had stapled a steak to it. My next concern was whether I could see out of my left eye. When I realized I could, that was the first moment I thought I was going to be OK,” she added.
The paramedics flew her in a helicopter for further treatment – the pilot could see the lion from above, waiting for its next prey. They later learned that the abandoned bike on the trail belonged to a man named Mark Reynolds, who the cat had killed before pouncing on Anne.
“Without Debi stepping in, I would not be here. Mark was a high-level athlete and he did not survive because he was by himself. People have no clue how powerful these animals are it was like being mobbed by 10 people,” the survivor noted.
She underwent a six-and-a-half hour surgery and despite terrible injuries, none of the 20 deep puncture wounds hit her trachea, esophagus, voice box, or carotid artery.
Within four months, Anne was back on her feet. She gathered courage and took her friend to go cycling on the same trail again, without letting fear take control.
