Westchester County Man Survives Cougar Attack In Remote Area Outside Seattle
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A Westchester County native is coming along in his recovery after he was mauled by a cougar.
It happened last week in Washington, while Isaac "Izzy" Sederbaum was mountain biking. He was with a friend who did not survive the wildlife attack, CBS2's Tony Aiello reported on Monday.
A family source said the 31-year-old Sederbaum is "making progress" after being attacked on May 19 in a remote area 30 miles from Seattle.
"It latched on to his head. He said he had his whole entire head in the jaws of this animal and was being shaken around," Washington state Fish & Wildlife Police Capt. Alan Myers said.
Officials said when S.J. Brooks, Sederbaum's mountain biking companion, ran off, the cougar left Sederbaum, pursued Brooks, and killed him.
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Bleeding from his injuries, Sederbaum jumped on his bike, rode to where he could get a cellphone signal and called 911.
"Help, I got attacked by a mountain lion, me and my friend!" he says on the 911 call. "Hurry, it hurts."
In an attempt to calm Sederbaum down, the dispatcher said, "I know, but you're doing a really great job staying calm there."
"I'm so worried about my friend," Sederbaum said.
"Do you know how far out he is," the dispatcher asked.
"At most, five miles," Sederbaum responded.
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Sederbaum graduated from Byram Hills High School in Armonk in 2005, and then attended Bard College in Dutchess County.
He grew up on Pheasant Drive in Armonk. A former neighbor took to Facebook, calling Sederbaum a "beautiful soul," and urging friends to donate to a GoFundMe campaign to raise money to pay for his medical bills.
A family source told CBS2's Aiello that Sederbaum's physical recovery is "on track," but there are concerns about his mental health, after surviving such a trauma and losing a friend in the process.
Wildlife officials say the bike riders did the right thing, initially standing their ground and making noise to scare off the cougar. This was the first fatal cougar attack in Washington state since 1924.
