Animal attacks, though not something the majority of us have to worry about on a regular basis, can be extremely traumatizing events that have serious, long-lasting consequences.
As humans we made sit atop any food chain you want to consider, but our physical limitations are well and truly exposed the moment we find ourselves out in the wild somewhere without a full complement of tools, instruments or weapons.
Just ask Jeremy Evans, who ventured into the woods in Alberta, Canada hunting for a ram. He found something considerably larger and more dangerous, resulting in an incident that very nearly claimed his life.
It was on August 24, 2017, that maintenance supervisor Jeremy Evans headed up into the Rockies of Alberta, Canada. Camouflaged amongst the trees, he sighted a Bighorn Ram through his binoculars.
Before long, Jeremy noticed “a little brown thing” run right in front of him, “less than 10 feet away”. He quickly came to the harrowing realization that it was a grizzly bear cub.
“I knew exactly what it was. I had this just feeling of… I knew I was in trouble,” he explained, as per Noiser.
“With grizzly bears, most of the time, the cubs are running around, and the mom is following. So, I knew that Mom was close, and I knew that trouble would be coming.”
An experienced hunter who knew the terrain he was operating in, Jeremy immediately reached into his pack to find his bear spray. Before he could retrieve it though, the mother bear exploded from the bush.
“And as I went to turn and look, their mama […] was about four feet away,” he explained, per Noiser. “Her right front paw was stretched straight out. I could see the claws. I could see the whites of her eyes, and the left side of her mouth was slightly open, and she was on a full charge…”
Jeremy threw his bike at her, buying himself the time to run for a nearby tree. He began to climb, only for the bear to make a second charge and wrap her claws around his leg as he dangled from a branch.
What followed was a brutal attack that left Jeremy with grave injuries.
“My left eye was hanging out of the socket. It was facing down. In order to really see, I either had to lift up my eye or lean my head way back,” he told the Daily Mail.
“I remember feeling my face and nothing felt the same. My jaw was hanging down on the left side and all my teeth were exposed.”
The damage to Jeremy’s face was so severe that he was left to pick up pieces of flesh from the ground after the bear had left the scene.
“I remember fiddling around the mountainside and I found a large chunk of flesh. I could feel the bristles and hair, and it was the part of my right side of my scalp.”
Convinced he was going to die from the extent of his injuries, Jeremy decided to end his own life rather than slowly bleed out. As per the Daily Mail, he aimed his rifle at himself and pulled the trigger.
But the gun failed to fire.
“That kind of scared me a little bit,” he explained. “So that’s when I decided that I was going to try to make it out.”
After beginning his walk back down the meeting, Jeremy stumbled and rolled 200ft into the bottom of a rocky creek.
Step by excruciating step, he was eventually able to find a campsite, though there was no one there. He pulled out his phone and decided to write messages to his wife in the event of his death.
“Whoever finds this please let my wife know I tried to make it,” one of the message, shared with UNILAD, read. “But there is [no] chance, that bear really [f***ed] me up.”
In a second text, he wrote: “I am pretty sure this is the end. I am very tired and I feel like I am going to pass out. If I do I won’t wake up.”
Miraculously, he eventually reached his car and drove 22km for help. In total, he underwent five major surgeries and another 15 minor procedures, spending five weeks in hospital.
Per the Mail, Jeremy still has limited function in some areas, can’t fully close his eyes, and no longer has tear ducts.
Not only that, but he has also suffered PTSD for years as a result of the attack, with episodes often triggered by things like the sound of ice cracking and the smell of blood.
Despite it all, Jeremy remains a keen hunter. He now travels the world as a motivational speaker and has written a book – Mauled – documenting his survival.
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