A man’s recent encounter with an unmerciful grizzly bear who attacked him twice, despite having self-defense measures on his person and using them, has went viral as the man miraculously lived to tell the tale.
The man, named Todd Orr, immediately turned to his smartphone camera after getting away and before driving to the hospital to record himself giving a short recollection of everything that went on during the attack. Blood is seen all over his mauled face, arms, and shoulders where he was viciously attacked.
He explains that he followed typical safety procedures by yelling “Hey Bear” every so often in the woods to prevent scaring any bears, but despite that, a female grizzly mother was determined to protect its cubs and charged the man.
He reached for his holster to grab a can of bear spray, which he aimed and sprayed directly at the grizzly bear, but as the disturbing video below explains, the spray doesn’t always work as you’d expect it to.
Orr was carrying two cans of bear spray and a pistol, but it made more sense to grab the bear spray because it tends to be more effective. Small caliber pistols tend to do nothing more than tick bears off, so it makes them even more aggressive; something Orr wouldn’t have wanted.
"I went to my face in the dirt and wrapped my arms around the back of my neck for protection," Orr said in a statement on Facebook. "She was on top of me biting my arms, shoulders and backpack. The force of each bite was like a sledge hammer with teeth. She would stop for a few seconds and then bite again. Over and over. After a couple minutes, but what seemed an eternity, she disappeared."
Orr likely suffered a broken arm, but thanks to the common safety practice of getting into the fetal position and protecting his neck with his hands, Orr survived the attack. He’s said to have played dead, which would have made the grizzly feel that the threat to her cubs was neutralized.
Additionally, the backpack he was wearing likely protectect his back and spine from damage during the attack.
Orr’s organs and critical parts of his body weren’t harmed during the attack, so thankfully, Orr will make a fine recovery. Nevertheless, his extreme calmness to the situation and ability to follow safety procedure likely saved his life.
Source: Todd Orr/Facebook
