Extraordinary Heroes

Anthony Farrer, 8 and Doreen Ashburnham, 11 after their cougar encounter in September 1916 will be showcased in a major new exhibit on heroism at the Imperial War Museum in London, to be unveiled this week as part of a Remembrance Day tribute to Commonwealth recipients of the Victoria Cross and other awards of bravery

Photograph by: Handout, Postmedia News

The courage of two Canadian children in confronting the reality of the moment, understanding that they directly faced death, and spontaneously deciding they would defend themselves, defied the seeming inevitability of death - each defending the other as best they could. For an eight year old boy and an eleven year old girl, companions in an outdoor adventure that swiftly turned deadly, this was no mean feat.

Their heroic partnership in defeating the natural predator that attacked them and meant to consume them has long been consigned to the annals of historical curiosities, and likely forgotten. It has been almost a century since Anthony Farrer and Doreen Ashburnham, two children who lived on Vancouver Island near Cowichan Lake, British Columbia, suffered the terror of an attack by a 85-kilogram wildcat, on a rural horse-riding trail.

Their struggle to assert themselves physically over a powerful and savage adversary well equipped by nature to overcome the puny counter-attack by two young children, did finally end with the cougar slinking off, defeated by the children's will to live. The badly injured children who had, by turns, attempted to beat the animal with a riding crop, with their bare hands, miraculously managed to make their way home, where their serious injuries received medical treatment.

The little boy, 8 year old Anthony Farrer, whose scalp was almost torn off while the girl struck the cougar repeatedly with her fist, gouged its eyes and thrust her arm into its mouth in a desperate attempt to have it loose her friend, required 175 stitches. And 11 year old Doreen Ashburnham, who had been severely bitten on the back and buttocks while pinned down by the cougar, as Anthony beat the animal with a riding crop, suffered deep wounds and blood poisoning.

Their courageous struggle for survival is now being commemorated by an exhibit on heroism at the Imperial War Museum in London. Their inspiring story will be exhibited along with those of over 200 Victoria Cross recipients, representing the top civilian award for bravery in the Commonwealth of Nations. The exhibition has been titled Extraordinary Heroes.

Extraordinary indeed.