A 12-year-old Kamloops boy is recovering in Vancouver's children's hospital Thursday evening, following a cougar attack at a campsite in the B.C. Interior the day before.

Colton Reeb, 12, is in good condition Thursday evening, after being attacked by a cougar at a campsite in Clinton.
(CBC)

Colton Reeb was bitten on the head, face, neck and upper chest before a family friend wrestled the big cat off the boy, but his parents told CBC News on Thursday evening their son is resting and in good condition.

Reeb is in high spirits and feels "ripped off" that he didn't get to complete his five-day camping trip, his parents say.

Reeb was camping with a friend's family on Wednesday in a campsite near Clinton, B.C., northwest of Kamloops.

The group had just finished eating dinner and Reeb took the short walk to the outhouse alone. That's when the cougar attacked.

"I see the cougar with his mouth on top of the young boy's head. [There's] nothing but blood everywhere," said Marc Patterson, a Reeb family friend who eventually fought the cougar off the boy.

Marc Patterson, a Reeb family friend, describes his fight with the cougar.
(CBC)

"I jumped down there on the cat, grabbed him by the neck and started squeezing him from behind. I tried to pull the cat off and it took a few seconds. Finally the cat did let go and then we tumbled," Patterson said.

"The cat was so strong he just pulled himself out of my hands. Then he's a metre in front of me, looking at me with his ears back."

Conservation officials in Clinton have located and killed the young male cougar. Attacks like this aren't common in the area, with the last one occurring in 1995, they said.