Camper wakes up to grizzly bear
Steve Bartley, still nursing his wounds, shared with us his story of survival. ToolsRelated ContentBy Meghan KalksteinSPRINGFIELD, Ore. - A Springfield man used his bare hands to fight off what might be the largest grizzly bear seen in the Yellowstone area in 30 years. Steve Bartley, still nursing his wounds, shared his story of survival. It started out simple enough: Bartley and a friend drove motorcycles to a campground outside of Yellowstone Park last week. "We went to bed in our tents around 10 or 10:30, and that's where the story begins," he said.
"I remember waking up because I got this butt in the back of my head. It was like somebody whacked me in the back of the head," recalls Bartley. That whack sent Bartley flying. "All I was thinking was I've got to get out of this tent," he said. "That was the first thing that came to my mind. I didn't hear anything, didn't hear a thing." "I decided to get out of the tent, so I'm un-zipping it, and as I do, the bear grabs my right hand. I'm thinking oh my gosh, I start screaming and yelling. I knew right away it was a bear," he said. And not just any bear: a predatory grizzly looking for dinner. "So I just started hitting it with my left hand as hard as I could. The next thing I know it grabs this hand and then it gets it's mouth on me and starts biting me, and I'm screaming, screaming, screaming help help me, I'm being attacked by a bear," he recalls. Bartley fought and fought, but the grizzly was relentless. "It went back and grabbed my hand again and at that point, I didn't really hear it as much as I felt crunching bones being broken in the hand. And just about as fast as it started, it ended," he says. The bear took off, leaving Bartley with a fracture, lacerations and puncture wounds.
He said it could have been a lot worse. "I guess in a way I'm unlucky because he chose me, but extremely lucky to be here today." Forest rangers are using Bartley's tent and blood stains to trap the bear. Bartley expectd to make a near full recovery and said he will go camping again.
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