- A British teenager has been left unable to walk after a Bison attack in South Dakota.
- Dean has suffered extensive injuries, including a severed femoral artery and severe damage to her tibial and peroneal nerves.
- She now needs major surgery to be able to walk, and her family is raising money for the medical costs.
A teenager has been left unable to walk after a bison gored her in South Dakota, and time is running out to raise funds for treatment, her family has said.
Amelia "Mia" Dean, 19, from the UK, who was about to start a dance degree at Edinburgh University, has been left unable to walk after a male bison charged her at Custer State Park in South Dakota.
According to Sky News, the animal impaled Amelia Dean in her left thigh before it flung her "head over heels" 10-15 feet in the air. When the incident occurred, Dean was walking on a trail with a friend and a dog. The 2,000-pound bison stood over her "huffing" after the attack for several minutes.
The outlet reported that Dean suffered extensive injuries, including a severed femoral artery and severe damage to her tibial and peroneal nerves.
She was on day two of a month-long road trip around the USA when the attack occurred in June.
Speaking from her hospital bed in Rapid City, South Dakota, she told Local News station KOTA-TV said the experience was "surreal."
The bison was about 100 feet away and seemed unbothered at first and continued to graze but suddenly turned aggressive and charged at Dean.
Her parents have said that it is "beyond fortunate" that their daughter survived the incident, saying she "should have bled out in 2-8 minutes after the severed artery, and the ambulance didn't arrive for 20 minutes."
"It is a miracle that she is alive today. We believe that God put a veil of protection over Mia," they have said.
The family made emotional statements on 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 foot, and time is running out," her parents wrote.
"She has been incredibly strong throughout this whole process, coming close to death, continuing to suffer now and yet still remaining positive," the page says.
There are 1,500 bison in the 71,000 acre Custer State Park.