El Toro : Girl Attacked by Lion Makes Small Gains
Laura Michele Small, the El Toro girl partly paralyzed as the result of an attack by a mountain lion, has regained some ability to move the right side of her body, her father said Wednesday.
“There was some movement of her right arm yesterday afternoon,” Donald Small said. “She’s doing pretty good. All of her signs are better, and she hasn’t developed a fever” from infection. Laura, 5, will probably remain in the intensive care unit at Mission Community Hospital in Mission Viejo until Monday, Small said.
Laura suffered multiple skull fractures and brain damage in the attack Sunday in Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park near San Juan Capistrano. Doctors said she might regain some motor ability with time.
“We’re very encouraged--we feel much better,” Small said, adding that the response from friends and strangers to Laura’s plight has been “wonderful.”
“We’re going to have to get another room to hold all the stuffed toys she’s received,” he said.
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