Cyclist Tackled Off Bike And Mauled In The Face By Cougar Saved By ‘Heroic’ Friends

A group of competitive female cyclists in Washington state are recalling the harrowing experience of wrestling their friend free from the jaws of a cougar.

“All these ladies came up with superhuman strength,” Keri Bergere, 60, recently told NPR affiliate station KUOW of her friends who saved her life. “They’re teeny ladies, and I know that the Fish & Wildlife shot the final shot to kill it. But these ladies killed that cougar with their bare hands and no weapons. I’m eternally grateful to each one of them.”

On Feb. 17, Bergere and her friends, Annie Bilotta, 64; Auna Tietz, 59; Tisch Williams, 59; and Erica Wolf, 51 — who are competitive cyclists and have been riding together for the past five years — were about 19 miles into a trek northeast of Fall City, when two cougars suddenly approached them near the Tokul Creek biking trails.

One of the cougars ran off, but the other, that the Washington State Department of Fish & Wildlife described in a statement as a 75-pound male, launched at Bergere and tackled her off her bike.

“From the time we saw the cougars to the time it took Keri off her bike was about three seconds,” Bilotta told NBC affiliate KING of Seattle .

“One second, I’ll say,” Bergere interjected before Bilotta added:

“So, we didn’t have a chance to face off with them to scare them away or anything.”

Bergere and the cougar tumbled into a shallow ditch near the trail and the cat sunk its teeth into Bergere’s jaw, pinning her face to the dirt.

“I thought my teeth were coming loose, and I was gonna swallow my teeth,” Bergere recalled to KUOW. “I could feel the bones crushing, and I could feel it tearing back.”

“I felt like it was suffocating me,” she said. “I could taste the blood in my mouth.”

Fortunate