A disabled army vet has detailed how he miraculously survived an encounter with a grizzly bear that saw him mauled in the Wyoming wilderness.
Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, suffered serious injuries as a result and revealed in an Instagram post how he was in the “wrong place at the wrong time” when a mother grizzly bear attacked him on Sunday.
The adult animal had been protecting its cub, he said, resulting in a vicious attack that the combat veteran said was the “most violent” thing he had ever experienced.
He credited a can of bear spray with saving his life, administered while the beast bit his hands, legs and the back of his neck, nearly killing him then and there.
But the former Army reservist never gave up, holding the boat as she went in for the kill. How did she manage to get out of it alive? “When she bit my hands on the back of her neck, at the same time she bit down on the can of bear spray and it exploded in her mouth,” she said.
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Shayne Patrick Burke, 35, suffered serious injuries after being attacked by an angry mum grizzly on Sunday and revealed he was in the “wrong place at the wrong time” when the animal attacked. In the photo, he wields a knife seconds after surviving the scare.
The attack, he added, occurred on Signal Mountain, an isolated peak located about 7,720 feet above sea level in Grand Teton National Park.
Once there for an hour looking for a great gray owl to photograph, he had the “surprise encounter” with the grizzly bear, he wrote online as he continues to recover.
“I was walking through a thick wooded area in a valley,” he wrote, revealing that he had separated from his wife just before with plans to meet again in a nearby parking lot.
‘I passed (sic) a feature on the slope to my right and noticed a brown bear cub running uphill about 50-70 meters in front of me. I knew this was not good.
“I pulled out my bear spray and saw the mother bear charging,” he continued.
‘I stood my ground, yelled and tried to deploy the bear spray, but by the time I did she closed the gap.
“When she lunged (,) I chose to turn around with my back to her and lay face down on my stomach and get ready for the ride.”
He wrote how at the time he was “clasping (his) hands behind my neck to protect my vitals,” with “the first bite and cut (felt) on (his) right back/shoulder.”
“I screamed,” Burke, who is from Massachusetts, wrote in a follow-up seen in the comments of the post.
He credited a can of bear spray with saving his life, administered while the omnivore bit his hands, legs and the back of his neck, nearly finishing him off then and there.
“When he bit my hands on the back of my neck, at the same time he bit into the can of bear spray and it exploded in his mouth,” she said.
That, he said, allowed him to get out alive, and the bear left him to apply makeshift tourniquets to his mangled legs.
The former Army reservist never gave up and cited his bravery as what kept him alive. He also said he didn’t blame the bear and attributed his ordeal to simply bad luck.
Then he turned around and stepped on my back. She bit my leg, lifting me up and slamming me to the ground several times. (M)he bit each leg from my buttocks to the inside of my knee about three times each.
“Last time,” he added, “I screamed again.”
This, however, made the bear attention to his head, he wrote, which led to the near-fatal attack on his neck.
“I still had my hands clasped and my arms protecting my carotid arteries,” he recalled. ‘I never let go of the bear spray.
When the beast bit her hands in an attempt to get past them, she hit the can.
‘This is what saved my life from the initial attack. I heard her running away, looked up and instantly ran in the opposite direction up the hill.
“Once I put some distance between me and the bear, I tried to call my wife,” he added, with photos shared in the post showing him covered in blood, presumably seconds after the attack.
“It couldn’t be done, so I texted the word ‘attacked,'” he continued.
“She called me and I told her what happened while she applied makeshift tourniquets to my legs.”
He continued to call 911 and stayed on the line with the operator in hopes that a helicopter would pinpoint his location.
‘This is what saved my life from the initial attack. “I heard her run away, looked up and instantly ran the opposite direction up the hill,” she said of the bear spray.
“I still had my hands clasped and my arms protecting my carotid arteries,” he recalled. ‘I never put down the bear spray can’
He underwent emergency surgery, due to a litany of lacerations seen in the photos above. The extent of his injuries was not immediately specified. However, authorities said Friday that he was in “stable condition” and “he was expected to make a full recovery.”
“At that moment I knew I didn’t have any arterial bleeding and that I just needed to stop the bleeding in my legs,” he wrote, with a photo showing him desperately clutching a hunting knife while lying on his back.
“I was left alone in the woods, clutching my knife and leaning my back against a tree, hoping the bear wouldn’t come back,” he wrote of this, with wounds still fresh on his person.
‘Through the 911 phone call, the helicopter was able to triangulate my location since the irregular service was not giving us a precise location.
“At that point my legs weren’t really working,” he added, revealing that he was left hoping the bear wouldn’t come back.
As he continued to bleed, it took hours for the helicopter to locate his location.
‘At that moment I accepted on that little hill that I could very well die. I recorded a short video telling my people I loved them,’ he admitted.
But in a stroke of good luck, the helicopter finally arrived and transported him to St John’s Hospital in Jackson, a few miles away.
Pictured is an archive photograph of the Grand Tetons in Grand Teton National Park, north of Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
There, he underwent emergency surgery, following a litany of lacerations seen in graphic photographs that accompanied the account.
After investigating the incident, the National Park Service (NPS) said it would not attempt to capture or kill the grizzly bear, as the animals are typically only aggressive when they feel threatened, especially when it comes to their young.
In another excerpt from his story, Burge said that no one supports that decision more than himself, expressing understanding toward the animal that came so close to claiming his life.
“I’ve thought a lot about how I would share my story about my encounter with a female grizzly bear and her cub,” he posted, showing the scars as proof.
‘Let me start with how much I love and respect wildlife. What happened at Signal Mountain was a case of wrong place, wrong time.
Mother bears aggressively defend their cubs and remain with them for two to three years after birth.
The decision not to pursue the bears, which officials determined behaved naturally after being surprised, was consistent with attacks that do not involve raids on campgrounds, eating food left by people or similar behaviors that make bears more dangerous. .
Citing the approximately 1,000 bears in the region, park rangers said they were not familiar with those responsible for Sunday afternoon’s attack. Pictured: Stock photo of a grizzly bear.
Citing the approximately 1,000 bears in the region, park rangers said they were not familiar with those responsible for Sunday afternoon’s attack.
As mentioned, the attack occurred even though the victim was wearing bear repellent spray and was making noise to alert bears in the woods, demonstrating the dangers of such an encounter.
As of this writing, an investigation into the incident remains ongoing. As for Burke, his recovery continues as well. He did not specify the extent of his injuries or whether or not he left the hospital.
DailyMail.com has contacted Burke for comment. In an update aired this week, officials said she was in “stable condition” and “she is expected to make a full recovery.”