She gave her life
for her son
(From the Alberta Report, 9/2/96)
Cindy Parolin was fully aware of the dangers in the wilderness. During hunting season the 36-year-old mother of four packed a rifle on her horseback excursions near her home in Princeton in the southern B.C. Interior. But on August 19, as she and her children rode through the Similkameen backcountry, with hunting season still weeks away, she had left her rifle at home. And when a cougar attacked Mrs. Parolin's six-year-old she began a deadly struggle--armed only with a stick. Her courageous battle saved her son but she could not save herself.
Mrs. Parolin was a counsellor who "loved the outdoors and respected its hazards," says long-time friend Dawn Johnson. On the afternoon of the fateful day, Mrs. Parolin and her children, Steven, 6, David, 13, and Melissa, 11, were riding in a wilderness area 30 miles northwest of Princeton. They were heading to a cabin to join Cindy's husband, Les, and her other son, 10-year-old Billy, for a camping vacation.
David recalls
that shortly before the attack the horses became visibly nervous. Before anyone
could determine the cause, a male cougar leaped out of the bushes and "went
for Steven," David told the press. "It got around his horse's neck and
fell off."
The animal jumped
for the boy again, tearing off his shoe and sock. Cindy shouted for her son to
hang on, but he fell and was immediately set upon by the cougar.
What
followed was a stunning display of raw courage. "My mom screamed and jumped
off her horse," says David, who had dismounted along with his sister. Armed
only with a branch she had broken from a dead tree, Cindy hit the cougar
full-force in the ribs. It leaped off Steven and swiped her arm. Cindy, a karate
student, punched back, fell to the ground wrestling the cat, and then shouted at
her children to get help.
The horses had
fled the melee, so David and Melissa were forced to pick up Steven and run over
a mile down the trail to where they knew their father had parked the family car.
Melissa stayed with Steven in the vehicle, and David hurried to a nearby
campsite for help.
By the time he
returned to the attack scene, in a pick-up truck driven by Jim Manion, it was
7:30 p.m.--Mrs. Parolin had been fighting the cougar for an hour. "It must
have been horrible," says Ms. Johnson. " Cougars pounce and back off,
pounce and back off. Cindy was of average height, five-foot-five, and of average
weight, but she was fit. The animal must have spent the entire time wearing her
down."
After hearing
screams, Mr. Manion found Mrs. Parolin a short distance from where she had
jumped from her horse. The cougar was on top of her. Mr. Manion threw rocks at
the animal, and when it began walking towards him, he aimed his shotgun and
pulled the trigger. But his gun jammed.
He backed up to
his pick-up, and the cougar halted in a manner which made him think it was going
to retreat into the bush. "Then it turned and came right at me,"
recalls Mr. Manion. "By that time I had the gun working. " He fired
from the hip, and the cat "lifted up and took off."
He rushed over to
Mrs. Parolin, who asked if her children were safe. "When Jim told her
'yes,' she seemed to relax," says Princeton RCMP Sergeant Tom Payne.
"Then she told him she was dying."
She was carried
to the pick-up and driven to Princeton General Hospital, where she was
pronounced dead on arrival. Princeton senior conservation officer Jim Corbett
and two colleagues later found the dead cougar 150 paces from the attack site.
Although Mrs.
Parolin's death shocked friends and family, they were not surprised by her
heroism. "She was fiercely protective of her family," says Ms.
Johnson. "She wouldn't have thought twice about sacrificing herself to save
any of them."
As of last week, Steven, who sustained severe scalp lacerations, was listed in stable condition. As he healed, the RCMP made plans to recognize his mother's bravery with a special reward. Meanwhile, staff at the Princeton General Hospital, where she worked, announced that a scholarship fund would be established in her name.