Mauling Victim, 6, Gets New Cornea

Doctors performed what appeared to be a successful cornea transplant Sunday morning in 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 Doney Eye Hospital in East Los Angeles.

Afterward, her father, Donald W. Small, said it will take time to know whether his daughter can regain full vision in her right eye with the cornea, taken from the body of 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.�

Bruises Very Easily

Because Laura developed a blood disease in a reaction to antibiotics administered shortly after the attack, it is difficult for her to undergo major surgery, 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 further 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 she was mauled.

In four previous operations, doctors have attempted to reattach Laura’s retina. The mountain lion also crushed part of the girl’s 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. Tears tend to “build up and spill over,� Small said. “It looks kind of like she’s crying all the time.�

Laura 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 to 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 classes, 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 when the attack occurred about 1 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon. The lion grabbed Laura by the head and dragged her off into the brush after the girl had wandered onto the stream bank.

A hiker, Gregory Ysais Jr. of Mission Viejo, heard the mother’s screams for help and ran to Laura’s rescue, beating off the lion with a stick. Seven months later, another child, 6-year-old Justin Mellon of Huntington Beach, was attacked by a lion, and the 7,500-acre park was later closed. It reopened in January with new guidelines restricting children to a playground area near the entrance and requiring them to be supervised by an adult at all times.