A Canadian cyclist was fortunate to escape with his life when he was attacked by a grizzly bear while riding in the woods.
While riding in a remote part of British Columbia, Colin Dowler spotted a huge animal about 100 feet away.
The 45-year-old was hoping it would either pass him or run back into the woods but instead, it charged right at him. And despite his best efforts to use his bike and hiking pole as a sword and shield, the animal bit him on his stomach.
It then lifted him up, throwing him in a ditch further down the trail — and biting a chunk out of his leg.
When speaking to BBC, he shared:
“I know this is your territory, I’m just passing through – we don’t have to do this. It was so much pain and weirdness, I could feel the hot blood. I’m being rag-dolled, suspended by my flank by a bear carrying me.”
He continued, saying:
“There was a point – I was scared the whole time – but I thought, ‘man, it would be cool to be catching this on video’.”
Thankfully, he was able to pull out his small pocket knife and stab the bear in its neck. And according to reports, it was later shot and killed by wildlife officers.
Mr. Dowler revealed how exactly he was able to escape the bear’s advances:
“It grabbed me by the stomach and kind of pushed me down and dragged me toward the ditch maybe 50 feet. I tried eye-gouging it away and it didn’t really work. It sounded like it was grating my bones up. Somehow, I don’t know how I did it. I used both hands to pull underneath the bear to get to that knife, and I grabbed the knife … and stabbed the bear in his neck. It let go of me immediately. It was bleeding quite badly, I wasn’t really sure if it was dying faster than I was.”
After he was able to break free from the bear’s jaws, Mr. Dowler used his shirt to make a tourniquet and rode over four miles for help.
Thankfully, he stumbled upon five logging camp workers who provided first aid and called him an ambulance.
The father of two is currently recovering at the Vancouver General Hospital.