- A British teenager has been left unable to walk after being attacked by bison in South Dakota.
- Dean has suffered extensive injuries, including a severed femoral artery and severe damage to her tibial and fibular nerves.
- Now she needs major surgery to be able to walk and her family is fundraising for the medical expenses.
A teenage girl was left unable to walk after a bison mauled her in South Dakota and time is running out to raise money for treatment, her family said.
Amelia “Mia” Dean, 19, from the UK, who was about to start a dance degree at Edinburgh University, was left unable to walk after a male bison charged at her in Custer State Park in South Dakota.
According to Sky News, the animal pinned Amelia Dean in her left thigh before throwing her “head over heels” 10-15 feet into the air. Dean was walking on a trail with a friend and a dog when the incident happened. The 2,000-pound bison stood over her “hafi” after the attack for several minutes.
The paper reported that Dean suffered extensive injuries, including a severed femoral artery and severe damage to her tibial and fibular nerves.
He was on the second day of a month-long US road trip when the attack occurred in June.
Speaking from his hospital bed in Rapid City, South Dakota, he said Local news station KOTA-TV he said the experience was “surreal”.
The bison was about 100 feet away and at first seemed unfazed and continued to graze, but suddenly became aggressive and attacked Dean.
Her parents said it was “beyond luck” that their daughter survived the incident, saying she “should have bled out in 2-8 minutes after the artery was cut and the ambulance didn’t arrive for 20 minutes”.
“It’s a miracle she’s alive today. We believe God put a veil of protection over Mia,” they said.
The family made emotional statements to a GoFundMe page for their daughter. They are raising money for major surgery to allow her to walk again.
“This could be Mia’s best chance to regain control of her leg and time is running out,” her parents wrote.
“She has been incredibly strong through this whole process, coming close to death, continuing to suffer now and yet staying positive,” the page says.
There are 1,500 bison in the 71,000 acre Custer State Park.