SNOQUALMIE, Wash. — Four women credited with saving their friend's life after she was attacked by a cougar and severely injured while mountain biking will be awarded the Carnegie Medal for Heroism.
Annie Bilotta, Aune Tietz and Erica Wolf of Seattle and Tisch Schmidt-Williams of North Bend were biking on a trail near Fall City on Feb. 17, 2024, when a cougar pounced on 60-year-old Keri Bergere.
They freed their friend whose jaw was clenched in the cat's mouth, then held the animal down while waiting for help. That heroism is why the four women are being recognized nationally.
Bilotta, Schmidt-Williams, Tietz and Wolfe will receive the award alongside 14 other individuals.
The Carnegie Hero Fund Commissions recognizes people from the U.S. and Canada who risk their own safety "in acts of extraordinary heroism" saving or trying to save others.
In March, Bilotta and Williams joined Bergere in sharing the story of that harrowing day in an interview with KING 5. The group of five women were 19 miles into their ride and on Tokul Creek trail near Snoqualmie when the attack occurred.
Two cougars ran out of the brush and one "decided to tackle Keri," Bilotta said, dragging Bergere off her bike.
"From the time we saw the cougars to the time it took Keri off her bike was about three seconds," Bilotta said. "We didn't have a chance to face off with them to scare them away or anything."
"I just remember getting tackled from this side and ending up at the other side of the road pinned to the ground and hearing all the ladies rallying and fighting for my life," Bergere said.
The women jumped into action to save their friend, engaging in essentially "hand-to-hand combat," according to Bilotta. They used rocks and sticks as the cougar bit into Bergere's jaw.
"I knew every second what was going on. And I was doing my own, poking at it and trying to focus, eyeballs out and get up his nose and his mouth with my hand," said Bergere.
After 15 minutes, Bergere was able to get away and the group held the cougar down with a bike until help arrived. A Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife officer shot and killed the young cougar.
Bergere said if it weren't for her friends, she wouldn't be alive.
"I know for a fact I would be dead if they didn't come back in, I would just be gone. That cougar had me and there's no doubt in my mind," Bergere said.
She spent five days at Harborview Medical Center following the attack. In an update posted to her online fundraiser in April, she listed a number of injuries, including claw marks and bites in her right shoulder, a rebuilt left ear, and damage to her hands and face.
"The scars would be part of my story moving forward, I am alive, and I can live with a few scars," Bergere wrote.