Canadian Teen Recovering After Being Mauled by Lion in South Africa [VIDEO]

A Canadian teen survived a vicious attack by a lion while volunteering at a wild animal rehab facility in South Africa.

Lauren Fagen, 18, from Canada was volunteering at the Moholoholo Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre, which accepts volunteer students from all over the world for a unique African experience. The center is home to several of South Africa's abandoned, injured and poisoned wildlife.

The teen was grabbed and mauled by the lion through the cage. Park officials claim that she was trying to 'hug' the lion.

Fagan, on her first day at the park, had confessed her intent to hug a big cat and this has led the park officials to believe that she might have tried it and it landed her in hospital.  

The center's founder Brian Jones told CBC that Fagan was responsible for the attack. "Fagan confessed the first day, 'I've come to hug a lion or a cheetah or a leopard. I want to hug them," Jones said. "I said, 'You cannot hug no animal. A week later, she's trying to hug the leopards. She's chasing the antelope around the yard. She's trying to hug them. I thought, 'Goodness me. She's cuckoo'. It's almost impossible for anything to happen unless you break the rules."

According to AFP, Fagan this Monday was cleaning outside the lion enclosure when the 5-year-old lion came near and started rubbing its head against the cage bars as if it wanted to be pet. She said the lion suddenly lunged toward her and grabbed her leg and would not let go.

She was finally rescued after her fellow volunteers pushed the lion back with the help of a broom stick. The attack left her with massive rips and holes in her legs,  reports The Globe and Mail.

"I didn't realize he could stick his paws through. I should have died or lost a leg. It was a miracle that I survived. He could have ripped off my skin and I would have died of blood loss," said Fagan, a student of Mcgill University.

"That's when fear set in, because you couldn't be logical anymore when your left knee is stuck and you can't pull it out and it was bleeding," she said. "I just said, 'It's stuck there, he's going to bite the whole thing off," she continued saying.

Fagan considers herself lucky to have survived such a brutal attack. She suffered no permanent damage to her leg though she will have scars.

Fagan is expected to return home by the end of September.