Bear Attack
‘He’s eating my brain. I can feel it,’ recalls bear attack survivor
Last Updated: Friday, May 16, 2008 | 11:09 PM ET
CBC News
A 53-year-old man in Saanich, B.C., managed to drive to safety after a grizzly bear mauled his head and tossed him to the ground in the woods near Bella Coola, about 700 kilometres north of Vancouver.
The attack took place on May 3 when Brent Case was on a surveying job along the rugged Central Coast area.
“He came up from behind me and started gnawing at the back of my head. It just started ripping the scalp off the head,” Case told CBC News on Friday.
“The pain was so excruciating that I don’t know why I didn’t yell or scream, but I just said, ‘I have to play dead.’”
Case dropped down in the fetal position and tried to hang on, but the adult grizzly ripped into his left arm, leaving ugly wounds.
The bear then went for his right arm and bit through the muscle, just missing a major artery, Case said.
“He’s eating my gristle and he’s gnawing on my head. I was saying, ‘He’s eating my brains. I can feel it.’ I know it’s happening and I said, ‘God! I hope it gets over soon’” he said.
“I said, ‘I’m too young to die. I don’t want to die,’ and then he stopped.”
The bear suddenly seemed to have enough and pushed him into the mud, still grunting and snorting, Case said.
