A B.C. man who was mauled by a grizzly last week says that a "strong desire to live" saved his life.
Johnny Johnson was out picking salmonberries near the remote village of Oweekeno on Rivers Inlet when he was attacked three times by the mother bear. The angry animal took a chunk of his scalp and left him with bite and claw wounds on his leg, waist and hand.
"I felt like I got hit by a truck," he told CTV News. "It came back and it came at my face, and I put my hand out to block it, and my hand went into its mouth."
Johnson blames the attack on a couple of neighbourhood dogs that had been menacing the bear. Dazed and bloody after his escape from the bear, he walked more than 1.5 kilometres to a friend's house to get help.
He's now at Victoria General Hospital, where he still faces multiple surgeries before his physical wounds can heal.
But Johnson says the emotional scars will stay with him.
"It's going to take a while, a long while. It's not something you get over that easy," he said.
Niece Crystal Johnson says the attack was a huge blow to a man who loved spending time in the outdoors.
"He's always talked about bears being his friends, so for something like this to happen was a big shock," she said.
It's estimated that B.C. is home to 16,000 grizzly bears -- the largest population in North America.
Hunting guides and conservation officers say the grizzly population has grown so large that another attack is inevitable.
"The grizzly bear populations in B.C. are strong, they're growing," said Scott Ellis of the Guide Outfitters Association of B.C.
"I think that what we're going to see is an increase in conflicts with wildlife, specifically grizzly bears and humans."
He says the majority of grizzly attacks end in death for the victim.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jim Beatty
