Woman Says Anger Saved Her From Lion Attack

Feb. 18, 2005 — -- Last June, Shannon Parker and her friends went for an afternoon hike in California's Sequoia National Forest. During that outing, Parker was attacked by a mountain lion, which clamped its strong jaws onto her face and then her leg for nine excruciating minutes.

Parker, 27, survived the attack by keeping her head and fighting off the lion. She also benefited from some quick thinking by her friends.

But she sustained major injuries, including losing her right eye. Eight months later, Parker returned to the site of the attack and talked about that day and her remarkable recovery.

Parker said the day started out great. "We were all very happy. We were hanging out by the river ... just having a good time," she told "Good Morning America."

She separated from the group to retrieve her friend's sunglasses. That's when she saw the mountain lion.

"I had my head kind of down and about 20 feet in front of me there was a mountain lion getting ready for its pounce on me," she said. "It locked [on] to my face. I just remembered its strength and force ... I was hitting it and screaming."

Parker was just inches from a 100-foot drop as she wrestled with the lion. "I came really close to the edge," she said. "Mind you it is still on me, and I tumbled down the hill."

Parker battled the cat for six minutes before she was able to scream. Her friends heard her cries and found her being pulled into the underbrush by the lion.

Parker said that during the attack, it seemed as if time stopped. "It's like everything is happening in slow motion," she said. "You're just so cautious of everything you do.But, you know, I really am so proud of myself because I stayed so focused and so calm."

Her friends, too, did what they had to do to save her. One of her friends stabbed the lion with a pocket knife. When that didn't deter the cat, the other friend threw several boulders at it.