‘We Just Can’t Believe So Many Would Care’

Since March 23, when our daughter Laura was attacked by a mountain lion, we have been overwhelmed by the support and prayers of our community.

Laura is home with us now and steadily improving. She is starting to walk with a brace and there is some hope for vision in her right eye. She has started to attend a special school and we’re hoping she might be able to attend kindergarten in the fall.

We wanted to thank publicly the people who helped us at Caspers Park at the time of the accident. My husband and I had to run nearly a mile along the trail for help, carrying Laura. As we were near collapsing, a man named Vaughn took Laura from us and carried her the last quarter-mile.

We want to thank the rangers who were waiting with the truck, the paramedics who took care of her at the park, and who gave us words of encouragement in those bleak moments. A young couple, Jill and David, who witnessed the attack, also ran for help and waited with us until the helicopter arrived.

We thank especially the paramedic who rode with Laura in Duke 1, and the pilots who flew her to the hospital.

There aren’t any words to express our appreciation to the trauma team at Mission Community Hospital. The care Laura received that first day and for the next 38 days was extraordinary in its excellence, as well as the love and concern that went with it. In every case, the doctors and nursing staff gave much more than was ever expected.

We want to thank our friends who have given their time, their prayers, their concern, meals for the family, hours at the hospital. And there is no way we can thank the thousands of strangers who have also given their prayers, letters, and contributions to Laura’s trust fund.

A special thanks goes to Olivewood School, St. Georges Pre-school and Church, Aliso School, Santiago Catholic Church, and the Mormon community in El Toro.

We just can’t believe that so many people we didn’t even know would care so much. This tragedy has certainly given us renewed faith in the goodness of people. We wish we could thank in person everyone who has helped Laura.

And finally we want to thank Greg Ysais. Without his truly heroic and selfless action of beating off the mountain lion, our daughter surely would have died. Our family will always think of his courage with pride and gratitude, and he will always have a very special place in our hearts.

SUSAN and DON SMALL

El Toro