Mathias D. Maciejewski helped to rescue Shannon Parker from an attacking mountain lion, Kernville, California, June 26, 2004. Parker, 27, was hiking in the Sequoia National Forest when she was attacked by a mountain lion. The undernourished, 58-pound male lion dragged her from the trail and about 25 feet down a steep embankment, where it mauled her about the face. Three friends with whom she had been hiking, including Maciejewski, 28, law student, were a distance behind her and heard her screams for help. They immediately responded, Maciejewski arriving first. He descended to Parker and grasped her about the waist as he attempted to push the lion away with his foot. The other friends arrived, and one of them handed Maciejewski a pocketknife. Maciejewski stabbed the lion twice, but it maintained its grasp of Parker. While the other friend ran to alert help, the friend who had provided the knife threw rocks at the lion, and it released Parker. As Maciejewski and that friend were attempting to get Parker up the embankment, the lion bit into her right leg and again maintained its grasp. The friend struck the lion repeatedly about the head with rocks until it released her. Maciejewski and the friend walked Parker to safety. She was airlifted to one hospital, then transferred to another, where she was treated for extensive injury, including the loss of an eye. Maciejewski recovered from a laceration to his ankle.
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