B.C. man describes bear attack: 'I'll never forget the clamping force of the bear's jaw'
It’s a moment forever seared in Gil Graham’s mind.
"I’ll never forget the clamping force of the bear’s jaw on my thigh because it was so intense, so strong, enough to make you realize he could crush your leg if he wanted to,” Graham explained.
The Metro Vancouver man survived a terrifying bear attack in Northern B.C.
The bear came after him not just once but twice.
It happened May 31 at a small mining exploration camp in a remote area north of MacKenzie.
Graham says he's encountered dozens of bears in his years of working in remote areas, but never anything like this.
He was working outside to open up the camp and when he turned around, he came face-to-face with a startled black bear. He put up his hands and stepped away, but the bear followed him and attacked.
"Ears back, paws down, looking at me, I’m looking at him. Five feet of space," Graham explained in an interview with CTV News.
"He’s, pushing me to the ground... I’m screaming - top of my lungs."
Graham said at times he felt helpless: "There’s nothing you can do. Just the power of the beast."
Still, with his leg badly bleeding, Graham did what he could to fight the bear off, using his metal flashlight to hit the animal. But the bear wouldn't leave.
When co-workers tried to help him, the bear went after them too. When they sought safety in a trailer, the bear came back for Graham.
"Of course his second approach was scary because if he’d gone somewhere else on me, things would have been considerably worse," Graham recalled.
Co-workers continued their desperate attempts to scare off the bear, throwing rocks and yelling.
"My colleague got in a pickup truck, lights on, horn blaring... he backed off enough so my colleague could get the truck between me and the bear," Graham explained.
Finally, someone in the camp shot and killed the animal. It's something Graham says is sad but was necessary.
"Everybody was still at risk while they were trying to help me. So that’s how it had to turn out," he explained.
Graham was treated remotely and then flown to hospital in Prince George where he underwent two surgeries for a deep leg wound.
He says he's healing well and is grateful for the help of his colleagues and the medical staff who treated him.
Friends have set up an online fundraiser to assist with any unexpected medical expenses as he recovers. He says any money not needed by him will be donated to assist with remote medical programs or training.
Graham says after 42 years working in the back country, he had been getting ready to call it a career.
He says he probably should have retired just a little sooner.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
BREAKING Legendary hockey broadcaster Bob Cole dies at 90: CBC
Bob Cole, a welcome voice for Canadian hockey fans for a half-century, has died at the age of 90. Cole died Wednesday night in St. John's, N.L., surrounded by his family, his daughter, Megan Cole, told the CBC.
Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction overturned by N.Y. appeals court
New York's highest court on Thursday overturned Harvey Weinstein's 2020 rape conviction, reversing a landmark ruling of the #MeToo era in determining the trial judge improperly allowed women to testify about allegations against the ex-movie mogul that weren't part of the case.
2 teens charged in Halifax homicide: police
Two teenagers have been charged with second-degree murder in connection to an alleged homicide near the Halifax Shopping Centre earlier this week.
12-year-old hippo in Japan raised as a male discovered to be a female
When Gen-chan arrived at a zoo in Japan in 2017, no one questioned whether the then-five-year-old hippopotamus was a boy. Seven years later, zoo staff made a surprising discovery: Gen-chan, now 12, was female.
Honda to get up to $5B in govt help for EV battery, assembly plants
Honda is set to build an electric vehicle battery plant next to its Alliston, Ont., assembly plant, which it is retooling to produce fully electric vehicles, all part of a $15-billion project that is expected to include up to $5 billion in public money.
MPP Sarah Jama asked to leave Ontario legislature for wearing keffiyeh
MPP Sarah Jama was asked to leave the Legislative Assembly of Ontario by House Speaker Ted Arnott on Thursday for wearing a keffiyeh, a garment that is banned at Queen’s Park.
'Deep ignorance': Calls for Manitoba trustee to resign sparked after comments about Indigenous people and reconciliation
A rural Manitoba school trustee is facing calls to resign over comments he made about Indigenous people and residential schools earlier this week.
CTE: Researchers believe widespread brain injury may contribute to veteran suicide rate
Researchers are working to better understand if some Canadian military veterans may be suffering from Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, also known as CTE -- a disorder previously found in the brains of professional football and hockey players after their death.
1 arrested in northern Alberta during public shelter order
Residents of John D'Or Prairie, a community on the Little Red River Cree Nation in northern Alberta, were told to take shelter Thursday morning during a police operation.