A 9-year-old girl who was camping in Washington state, in the northwestern United States, survived a very rare mountain lion attack on a man, said her uncle who started a kitty in line.

The attack took place on Saturday morning, when Lily was “camping with her family” in the eastern part of the state, her uncle Alex Mantsevich wrote on crowdfunding site GoFundMe.

"Transported by helicopter to the hospital with numerous injuries to her upper body and her face", she underwent numerous operations and came out of a coma on Monday, "well aware of what happened to her".

Her uncle's appeal for financial assistance, including for health costs, is accompanied by photos of the young girl on her hospital bed, her face studded with large sores similar to severe scratches.

Since 1924, only 20 people have been attacked by mountain lions in this wild, mountainous state, and two people have died, notes the Washington State Conservation Agency.

One of its spokespersons told a local television station that they were conducting an investigation to better understand the circumstances of the attack, and that the body of the animal, shot by a person present at the scene, would be analysed, in particular in order to detect possible illnesses.

Attacks by pumas, a powerful feline also known as a cougar and present in the Americas, are extremely rare, but authorities recommend that if they do occur, do everything to "stay up and fight back", and Above all, do not try to flee or play dead.