Lily Kryzhanivskyy, 9, who survived a vicious cougar attack, shared her philosophy of how her faith and inner strength helped her to survive and thrive.
Kryzhanivskyy is now able to do cartwheels and have fun like any other kid just starting the fourth grade. However, Kryzhanivskyy was nearly killed when a cougar mauled her while she was playing hide-and-seek in a camping area in Stevens County in May.
Kryzhanivskyy’s mom took video before she had numerous stitches removed, which held the skin on her face and head together.
During the attack, Kryzhanivskyy said she fought back with everything she had and then fought back with her faith.
“I started just fighting and kicking and punching and then the cougar came right behind me to my head and he started chewing it and I was really scared. I had to keep on fighting and I started praying so that way God might be to save my life,” Kryzhanivskyy said. “I couldn’t look at myself in the mirror because I was too scared to see how many scars I got and all of the short hair, but then I noticed that it was actually me. I didn’t change. I’m the same old me.”
Kryzhanivskyy said her message for anyone with hardships is that you can overcome them if you can face your biggest fears.
She said it’s just a matter of staying confident even when being confident is really hard.
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