'You won't hurt my dog!': 8-year-old cancer survivor saves her golden retriever from mountain lion by rushing outside with a broom to scare the "big cat" away

Blake Seidel • Managing Editor & Brand Manager

Mar 3, 2026 9:00 AM EST

Lila Morgan is officially our favorite superhero.

We have a very good friend who is a cancer survivor. Her strength and outlook on life are a constant inspiration to us, but one of the biggest things she imparted on us about her journey was that she believed that if she could beat cancer, she could do anything. And it's true, she could do anything. She never once hesitated to take the steps to achieve her dreams, no matter how lofty they might have been. She knew she could be that 1 in 1,000,000 because she already proved it to herself by beating cancer.

Why are we talking so much about cancer survivors? Because Lila Morgan, the 8-year-old cancer survivor in our story below, showed us the exact same thing. She was home playing one day when she heard her dog yelp outside. Rushing to see what the problem was, she saw a mountain lion attacking her golden retriever. Without hesitation, Lila grabbed a broom and started hitting the mountain lion to save her dog. The mountain lion eventually ran away, both her and her doggo relatively unharmed.

When she was interviewed about it later, she said, "I beat cancer. I'm not scared of a big cat", and that reminds us of something our friend would say. She never had to chase away a mountain lion, but she faced her own battles that were certainly just as scary. These two women, Lila and our friend (who we won't name here out of respect for their privacy) are a reminder of how strong the human spirit is.

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via StoryTime
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via StoryTime
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via Tim Tanner
We'd like to think that we would do the exact same thing, but you can never know until you're in a situation like this. There are three main responses to a high-stress situation: fight, flight, or freeze. Most people freeze, or run away, but some people stay and fight. Lila is one of those people, and if she was able to survive cancer at only 8 years old, we think she's always been one. She was born one.
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via Shirley Litwiler
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via Pearl Branham
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via Cheryl Harris-Piliaris
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via Alice L Warren
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via Joey Odom
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via Jenni Millington
Heroes don't always wear capes; sometimes they carry broomsticks and yell battle cries into the wind. Lila didn't need a cape to be a hero, she's a hero simply by making the choices she made to protect herself, her doggo, and her family. She's what a real hero looks like.
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via Alex Anderson
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via Nancy Osterman Rowland
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via Megan Crump
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via Lynn Oliver
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via Madeline Hart-Ladd
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via Earl Lee