LAKE COWICHAN, B.C. -- The father of a seven-year-old boy who was attacked by a cougar in a small lakeside community on Vancouver Island is crediting his wife's quick actions for his son's survival.

Kevin Bromley says his son Zach was playing in the family's backyard in Lake Cowichan, B.C., on Friday, when a cougar leapt toward him but banged into a fence before clawing its way through.

Kevin says his wife Chelsea heard the fence rattle and looked out to see the cougar trying to drag her son away.

She jumped down the back stairs and started trying to pry the animal's jaws open, crying out to God for help, before it released its grip on his left arm and ran away.

Kevin says Zach is recovering at his grandparents' house with gashes to his head, neck and arm.

He says conservation officers have euthanized the animal, which appeared to be a juvenile.