CALIFORNIA On mend, woman describes near-fatal attack by cougar

Nearby lay the body of a male cyclist the mountain lion killed.
ORANGE COUNTY REGISTER
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- "Jesus, help me."
That was Anne Hjelle's first thought when the 112-pound mountain lion locked its jaws around her head.
When the cougar tore away at the flesh on her fair face and neck, ripping her left ear from her skull and folding the left side of her cheek over her broken nose, she had another thought:
"I want to die."
Hjelle, savagely mauled while mountain biking in Whiting Ranch Wilderness Park in south Orange County, Calif., nearly four months ago, then thought of her husband of three years, James.
"I knew that for him to lose me would be devastating," Hjelle, 31, told TV's "Inside Edition," which is airing her first interview since the Jan. 8 mauling.
Another cyclist killed
The same mountain lion that attacked Hjelle had killed cyclist Mark Reynolds, 35, of Foothill Ranch, Calif., hours earlier.
On Friday, "Inside Edition" released excerpts. Hjelle has declined to talk to other media outlets until the program airs.
Hjelle was out on a late-afternoon ride with the Trail Angels, a group of Christian female mountain bikers, when her life changed.
Friend and riding partner Debi Nicholls was following Hjelle as they rode down Cactus Ridge Run in the northeast section of the park.
"All of a sudden I saw a flash of movement over my right shoulder," Hjelle said. "The next thing I knew, I was off of my bike. I just remember the impact of him. He hit me so hard, and I knew right away what it was."
Although the women did not know it at the time, the remains of Reynolds lay nearby.
He had been dead about four hours, his internal organs consumed -- the first mountain-lion fatality in Orange County history, and only the sixth in the state. Experts believe the mountain lion, later shot dead by Orange County Sheriff's deputies, may have been protecting its kill when it pounced on Hjelle.
Powerful animal
"The thing I remember very clearly is his power," said Hjelle, a gym trainer and a former U.S. Marine. "It was unreal. It felt like 10 guys attacking me at once. There's absolutely no way I was any match for this animal.
"He actually grabbed onto my shoulders. ... He was going for my neck, and his goal, as it would be with any type of prey, was to break my neck and paralyze me."
A horrified Nicholls got off her bike.
She saw the cougar dragging Hjelle by the neck off the trail and into the brush. She grabbed her friend by the legs.
"I could actually see Debi's face, and I could see her screaming," Hjelle said. "I mean, it was blood-curdling screams."
Tug of war
Just inches from being attacked herself, Nicholls and the lion engaged in a desperate tug of war with Hjelle's body.
Nichols had Hjelle by the legs, as the lion had her head and face in his jaws. As the women were dragged deeper into the brush, Hjelle began to think that the battle was almost over.
"Once he started clamping down, I remember thinking ... this is it. I'm going to die."
Amazingly, Hjelle said: "I didn't feel pain at the time. ... I felt just the strength of [the cougar]."
Then she passed out.
Two other bikers, Nils Magnuson and Mike Castellano, heard the women's screams and helped scare off the cougar by throwing rocks and other objects at it.
The cougar finally released its death grip.
Hjelle soon regained consciousness. The men carried her back up to the trail and called 911.
"Honestly, once the lion took off I thought, 'I'm in the clear now. I'm good,'" Hjelle said. "Never once did I think I might bleed to death, I might still die. It never occurred to me."
Twenty minutes later, help arrived and Hjelle was airlifted to the hospital.
Reconstructive surgery
Plastic surgeon Dr. Christopher Nolan of Mission Regional Medical Center in Mission Viejo, Calif., has already performed reconstructive surgery on Hjelle's face.
There will be three to five surgeries over the next five years to correct her uneven smile and droopy left eye, he said.
"I think we're going to get very close to how she used to look, but it's all predicated on how much nerve function she regains," Nolan told the Register. "Age is on her side. Nerves in someone her age can regrow.
"She has a remarkable attitude. She's an impressive human being."
Hjelle, a member of Life Church in Mission Viejo, said she isn't sure why her life was spared.
"I never have said, 'Why me?'" she said.
"[And] I'm not concerned about the scars. I'm just thankful to be alive. I just know God will get me through it, and he's never going to give me more than I can handle.
"And wow, if he thought I could handle this, it's big."