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."