Doctors Transplant Cornea in Girl Mauled by Cougar

Doctors apparently succeeded Sunday in transplanting a cornea into the right eye of a 6-year-old El Toro girl who was badly mauled by a mountain lion nearly a year ago, but at the same time they discovered what may be signs of further detachment of the child’s retina.

Laura Michele Small, who was attacked by a cougar in the Ronald W. Caspers Wilderness Park near San Juan Capistrano last March 23, underwent about two hours of surgery at Estelle Doheny Eye Hospital in East Los Angeles.

Afterward, her father, Donald W. Small of El Toro, said it will take time to know whether his daughter can regain full vision in her right eye with the cornea from a 22-year-old man.

“They (doctors) have no way of knowing right now,” said Small, an optical engineer. “The corneal transplant seemed to go OK. But the doctor noticed that her retina appeared to be folded in one area and that may indicate some detachment.”

Because Laura developed a blood disease in a reaction to antibiotics administered shortly after the attack, major surgery would be difficult for her, her father said. The disease, hypoplastic anemia, has left Laura with an abnormally low red blood cell count and she bruises very easily, he said.

He said it’s not clear if she will require more eye surgery and her doctor, Ronald Smith, couldn’t be reached for comment Sunday.

“The chances are very good” for the cornea transplant to be successful, Small said, adding that failure would mean his daughter’s sight would gradually return to the “cloudy” state it has been in since the incident.

In four previous operations, doctors have attempted to reattach Laura’s retina. The mountain lion attack also crushed part of her skull, left her right leg and arm partly paralyzed, broke the bridge of her nose and inflicted 50 cuts on her head and face.

She also will require surgery to reattach severed tendons in her face and repair damaged tear ducts, her father said.

Laura now attends Richard H. Dana School in Dana Point, an institution with programs for “children with exceptional needs.” There she undergoes an hour a day of therapy to try and regain some use of her right arm and leg.

Small said she is able to walk with a brace, but is still unable to move her foot or toes. The youngster has some control of the muscles in her arm and shoulder but has difficulty using her hand, he said.

Despite her injuries, Laura’s spirits are “pretty good,” her father said. She likes school and will be eager to return to kindergarten, he said, adding that she will probably remain in the hospital until Wednesday.

Laura and her mother, Susan Mattern-Small, were wading in a shallow stream in search of tadpoles in the rustic park in southeastern Orange County about 1 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon when the attack occurred. The cougar grabbed the girl by the head and dragged her off into the brush.

A hiker, Gregory Ysais Jr. of Mission Viejo, heard Laura’s mother’s screams for help, ran to Laura’s rescue and chased off the mountain lion with a stick.

Seven months later, another child, 6-year-old Justin Mellon of Huntington Beach, was attacked at the park and the 7,500-acre facility was later closed. It reopened in January with new guidelines restricting children to a playground near the entrance and requiring them to be supervised by an adult at all times.