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15-year-old boy fights off bear attack
Posted: 2004-04-27 04:13am
by BoredShirtless
This kid has big nuts!
15-year-old boy fights off bear attack
April 27, 2004 - 1:54PM
A 15-year-old boy on an Alaskan wilderness expedition fought off a 180 kg brown bear that entered his tent when he was sleeping.
The boy awoke to find the bear sitting at his feet. After trying unsuccessfully to back out of the tent, the boy was bitten in the forearm and decided to fight back, punching the bear with his left hand a half-dozen times, Alaska State Trooper Adam Benson said today.
When the teenager tried to run, the bear bit him again below his ribs, this time leaving a half-dozen puncture wounds on his back, Benson said.
The boy punched the bear again, and again she let him go, but chased him around a nearby stand of trees. He eventually remembered an air horn in his gear, and blew it in the bear's muzzle, waking others in the camp, said Steve Prysunka, director of the six week "Crossing Wilderness Expeditions for Youth" program for emotionally troubled youths.
The bear finally turned and ran after counsellors blasted her with pepper spray and fired a flare at her feet, Prysunka said.
Late on Saturday, following the morning attack, officials found the sow in the campsite area on Deer Island in south-east Alaska and killed her.
The boy was flown to a hospital, where he was treated, then sent home to Barrow to give his wounds time to heal, Prysunka said.
"I think he is the biggest, baddest thing in the woods. He punched the bear," Prysunka said.
Posted: 2004-04-27 04:16am
by Shinova
This kid will be immune to bullying for sure. What are bullies compared to a bear?
Posted: 2004-04-27 04:18am
by Superman
Tough kid. Lucky, but tough.
Posted: 2004-04-27 04:31am
by Master of Ossus
Holy shit! I hope his emotional disturbance isn't aggravated by this experience, but I'm glad he survived and fought the thing off. That was both lucky and good of him. I hope he recovers quickly.
Posted: 2004-04-27 08:12am
by Shroom Man 777
That's awesome! I bet he managed to fend off the bear thanks to his emotional disturbance! That's just so cool! I wish I'd get attacked by a bear
And besides, that bear was small. But the cool thing was that he punched the bear's face off! I bet if he were any older, he would have an article in Maddox's website!
Posted: 2004-04-27 08:54am
by Peregrin Toker
Whoa... he didn't use a gun?
Posted: 2004-04-27 08:59am
by Shroom Man 777
Nope. He just scared it off, didn't kill it. And he used one of those horns which give out obnoxiously loud noises.
Posted: 2004-04-27 10:38am
by neoolong
Uh, when faced with a bear, aren't you supposed to not move or something?
Posted: 2004-04-27 11:11am
by jegs2
There has got to be a cool merit badge for something like that.
Posted: 2004-04-27 11:13am
by BoredShirtless
neoolong wrote:Uh, when faced with a bear, aren't you supposed to not move or something?
Probably. But good luck keeping still while a bear sticks his claws into you.
Posted: 2004-04-27 11:25am
by General Zod
mind giving the source for that?
Posted: 2004-04-27 12:48pm
by neoolong
BoredShirtless wrote:neoolong wrote:Uh, when faced with a bear, aren't you supposed to not move or something?
Probably. But good luck keeping still while a bear sticks his claws into you.
According to the article, he wasn't attacked until after he moved.
Posted: 2004-04-27 12:54pm
by Kamakazie Sith
neoolong wrote:Uh, when faced with a bear, aren't you supposed to not move or something?
Only during the day. At night a bear is out hunting and it will eat you, so fight for your life.
Posted: 2004-04-27 07:28pm
by YT300000
Posted: 2004-04-28 03:40am
by Comosicus
That's one brave boy. And a lucky one too.
But this fact reminds me of a joke:
At a mountain camp, one kid asks his teacher what should he do if he is attacked by a bear. The teacher says:
"Throw some shit into his face."
"But where would I find shit then?"
"Don't worry, you'll find it very easy. Just check your pants."
Posted: 2004-04-28 04:26am
by The Yosemite Bear
ahh, Alaska where humans are not at the top of the food chain....
mind you despite my right to arm bears leaning, I had nothing to do with this incident, or the polar bear mauling the nuclear sub last year. As for the mauling of the PETA protesters
I plead the fifth....
Posted: 2004-04-28 04:40am
by Sarevok
He is a very brave kid. And lucky too.
Posted: 2004-04-28 08:43am
by wautd
poor bear
