An afternoon reserved for capturing family memories was abruptly interrupted by a harrowing encounter with a wild horse at Mt. Charleston, resulting in a three-year-old girl, Olivia, sustaining a life-threatening injury. The young girl from Logandale was kicked in the head by the horse during a photo shoot in Lee Meadows, leaving her in critical condition.

According to FOX5 Vegas, Olivia's mother, Haley Wilkey, witnessed the incident and initially feared the worst. "I thought she had died because she was unresponsive," she recounted. A nearby man with a first aid kit quickly stepped in to assist the family, working with Wilkey to keep pressure on her daughter's wound. "It was like, I think, almost 45 minutes of holding her head shut waiting for the ambulance to come," Haley told FOX5 Vegas. The girl's father, Austin Wilkey, expressed deep gratitude for the man's assistance, "You saved my daughter," he said in a statement obtained by FOX5 Vegas.

The ordeal prompted an urgent response from Mt. Charleston Fire and Rescue. "On 8/03/2024 at 6:12 pm Mt Charleston Fire and Rescue responded to a report of a child kicked in the head by a horse in Upper Lee Meadows in Lee Canyon.  Upon arrival the crew on scene found the child to be in critical condition. The Child was life flighted to UMC," stated Mt. Charleston Fire and Rescue in a release reported by 8 News Now. The U.S. Forest Service is reportedly investigating the cause of the incident.

Olivia is now recovering in the ICU of a Las Vegas hospital, where she recalls the kick and has begun eating and drinking. “It’s really a miracle, a blessing,” Austin said in an interview with 8 News Now. While Olivia's long-term prognosis remains uncertain, her family has launched a GoFundMe page to help cover the medical expenses. The family expresses profound thanks to the strangers who came to their aid on the mountain, including two individuals identified as Jose and Jesse.

In light of the incident, Haley Wilkey shared a word of caution for other families, advising distance and caution around wild horses. "I wish I got his phone number. I actually hugged him. I said thank you so much. You saved my daughter," Austin Wilkey reflected on the contributions of the stranger with first aid knowledge in a statement obtained by FOX5 Vegas. Grandmother Shanna Sims echoed the sentiment on 8 News Now, urging people to be "very wary" of wild horses.