SEATTLE | A man mauled by a black bear near his vacation cabin in central Washington says he felt he had to stand and fight the animal to survive the attack.
Wearing a hospital gown and bandages, Bellevue City Council member John Chelminiak, 57, talked to reporters Wednesday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle where he has had five surgeries since the Sept. 17 mauling at Lake Wenatchee.
Mr. Chelminiak says he wouldn’t let the bear keep him on the ground and he kept forcing his way back up as the bear bit and clawed him.
“I vividly remember being bitten on the head and the sound that makes as her teeth were going into my head and running along the skull,” he said. “It was just a horrendous fight.”
He made it back to his driveway where his wife found him; their daughter called 911.
When Mr. Chelminiak was flown to the hospital in Seattle, Plastic surgeon Dr. Matthew Klein said parts of his face and scalp were hanging off. Doctors had to remove his left eye.
Wildlife agents tracked and killed the black bear a few hours after the attack. They said it was an older female, thin at 148 pounds and in poor condition.
“I do remember her hitting me in my left eye and how that felt. There was just a bright flash of light,” Mr. Chelminiak said.
Except for the loss of vision, Dr. Klein said Mr. Chelminiak should make a full recovery after two or three more surgeries. He praised Mr. Chelminiak for his spirit, will and determination to recover.
Mr. Chelminiak, his wife, Lynn Semler, and 11-year-old daughter had gone to their vacation cabin that Friday. Mr. Chelminiak recalled he had taken their dogs for a walk when he heard a rustle in the brush and the sound of the bear rushing him.
They wrestled for a time with the bear clawing him. During a break, he was able to reach his driveway where the bear pounced again on the dogs. He was able to pull them free and they went back to the cabin.
The bear attacked again, and at one point, when the animal bit Mr. Chelminiak in the abdomen, he was able to deliver his best blow with a knee.
At some point the bear stopped. “I had no idea why,” Mr. Chelminiak said.
Soaked in blood he tried to move up the driveway and kept yelling, “Bear! Bear! Call 911!”
Mr. Chelminiak said he contemplated whether he would make it or not and decided to keep yelling.
His wife didn’t recognize her husband’s voice at first and thought it was a neighbor. When she went outside and found Mr. Chelminiak, “I was pretty frightened because he didn’t look like himself,” Mrs. Semler said at the news conference.
Mr. Chelminiak thanked everyone who helped him, especially the medical staff at Harborview.
“With the extent of the injury, it’s a miracle I made it through,” he said.
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