A woman in Canada jumped on a young mountain lion and prised its jaws open to rescue her 7-year-old son as he was mauled by the animal in their backyard

Chelsea Bromley saw her seven-year-old son, Zack Bromley, was being mauled by a young mountain lion in their backyard in the town of Lake Cowichan, British Columbia, Canada on Friday.
The boy's father, Kevin Bromley, said his son was "was pretty close to near death" and that he was lucky that a young mountain lion was involved in the attack.
Zack was airlifted to hospital with wounds to his arms and head, while two mountain lions were tracked and killed by authorities.

A mom jumped on a young mountain lion and tried to prise its jaws open to rescue her seven-year-old son as he was being mauled in their backyard in British Columbia, Canada on Friday.

Chelsea Bromley heard banging against the fence in the yard and went outside to see a young cougar biting her son, Zack Bromley, on the arm, his father, Kevin Bromley, told Canadian outlet CBC.

She then jumped over the fence and began to force the cougar's jaws open, he told CBC, leaving her with cuts on her arms.

"I think any mom would do that. It's that selfless love."

Zack was airlifted to hospital from their gated community home with wounds to his arms and head, CBC reported . He is now recovering in his grandmother's house.

Kevin said that Zack realized "that was pretty close to near death."

"He's old enough to grasp that. And that's a big pill to swallow, just to digest that mentally."

mountain lion colorado REUTERS/Rick Wilking

Kevin said that he started to cry when he arrived, because his son was "covered in blood."

Ben York, a British Columbia conservation inspector, told The Globe and Mail that Chelsea hadwrestled the mountain lionoff her son, leaving her with some "minor bite marks on her hand."

"She told me she couldnt do it for two or three seconds but then she screamed 'help,' and it just let go and ran off. And there was blood everywhere," Kevin told Global News.

He said that Chelsea is "beside herself." "If it had been a bigger cougar, it would have been over," he said.

A second mountain lion was at the scene, according to reports in Global News and The Globe and Mail, but it is not clear if both animals were involved in the attack.

Conservation officers responded and said they tracked and killed the two mountain lions. They said they were young and "quite thin," suggesting they were hungry, Global News reported.

Scott Norris, a British Columbia conservation inspector, said seeing cougars on west Vancouver Island is common.

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