Canmore man shares harrowing story after surviving grizzly bear attack

It’s been one month since Peter Graham was attacked by a charging mama grizzly bear in Kananaskis Nation.

However each second of the terrifying ordeal remains to be vivid in his thoughts.

“I’ve encountered many bears earlier than, however at that second it was like a part of my mind knew precisely what was going to occur, however the different a part of my mind was in denial of what was taking place,” mentioned the 38-year-old, “As a result of I knew together with her two cubs there, I used to be in severe hazard.”

Graham has been exploring the mountain ranges round Canmore since he was a teen. He usually hikes alone and is drawn to the paths much less trodden by the lots.

On Sept. 26, he got down to the Highwood Move space in Kananaskis Nation, however he mentioned it was filled with automobiles.

“There have been a whole bunch of individuals at Highwood Move  and I needed to be someplace that was off by myself,” he mentioned, choosing a distinct path a number of kilometers away. “I had been in that space earlier than,” he mentioned.

However about an hour and half within the splendor of the turning larches, his solitude was shattered when he and a bear startled one another.

“It was so shut that we shocked one another. I do not forget that she turned her head to have a look at me and he or she began operating towards me in a full dash,” he mentioned, ” It was too late to do something. All I  may do was put my hand in entrance of me.”

“She got here at me full pressure. She got here at me together with her mouth broad open and immediately enveloped my head and bit down on it, inflicting large lacerations immediately.”

Graham was carrying bear spray with him, however he mentioned in that second it wasn’t accessible sufficient and he didn’t have sufficient time to make use of it.

“I keep in mind the pressure of her enamel in opposition to my cranium and I may truly hear the sound of her enamel grind in opposition to my cranium. It was in the intervening time I actually had time to assume truly how dangerous my scenario was,” mentioned Graham, who was as soon as bluff charged by a bear.

“Positively moments of terror there. She moved with such energy. As soon as I used to be down on the bottom she moved to different elements of my physique. She bit my stomach, my legs, and shook me round by my legs. I had my eyes closed for many of it,” he mentioned.

Graham mentioned all of it occurred in mere seconds after which the bear calmly walked away and he didn’t see her once more. He mentioned the primary  factor he did was attain for a roll of gauze and wrap it round his bleeding head after which he pressed the SOS button on his emergency GPS.

“I’d of needed to bushwhack  my method down the freeway, I’d have been a bloody wreck alongside a random spot of the  freeway with out it.”

An hour later  he heard the thrill of a helicopter overhead and noticed the rescuer and an extended line, triggering one other bolt of adrenaline in his already shocked physique.  Whereas he mentioned he’s at all times tried to mentally put together for an occasion like a bear assault or being rescued from the backcountry, nothing may have ready him for that have.

“To be actually flying below a helicopter…that was a surreal expertise. Because of the [rescuer] who clipped me in, I may see his demeanor was simply one other day on the workplace actually that helped reassure me.”

Graham was rushed into surgical procedure in Calgary. He mentioned he had 46 staples in his head and 26 stitches in his face. He sustained accidents to simply about each a part of his physique, however is anticipated to make a full restoration.

In line with Alberta Setting and Parks there have been 9 grizzly bear assaults in Alberta, three of them have been lethal together with one by a black bear. In 2020 there have been 4 assaults and one fatality.

“There’s lots of people operating round within the mountains proper now and the tip result’s there’s going to be interactions with wildlife when that occurs. ” mentioned Jay Honeyman, a biologist with Alberta Fish and Wildlife. ” The probabilities are extraordinarily unlikely it’s going to occur, however it may occur. That is type of an excessive instance of what may occur,” mentioned Honeyman.

Graham mentioned he was interviewed by conservation officers whereas in hospital and requested that the bear be left alone.

“They closed the world and the bear may  be by itself. I’d be heartbroken to know something occurred to the bear, if it was to be destroyed as a result of the bear was simply performing instinctually.  I believed she posed no additional risk to anybody,” mentioned Graham.

He’s grateful to the rescue group that long-lined him out that day and the paramedics that met him on the staging space. He credit a group of nurses and docs for getting him to the place he’s immediately, doing remarkably properly contemplating his ordeal.

Whereas the scars on the surface of his physique are nonetheless therapeutic, he insists that’s the one place he’s been injured.

“I’ve at all times had some psychological preparation if one thing have been to occur to me. It was a really traumatic day, however in the long run, as a result of I’ve at all times type of ready myself and recognized individuals who have had harmful issues occur to them, I haven’t suffered any trauma from it,” mentioned the decades-long hiker.

He mentioned subsequent time he’ll you’ll want to make extra noise and preserve his bear spray much more accessible. He urges others to know their very own limits and at all times be ready for the whole lot.

“I had a bear dream and I used to be climbing alongside this path and a bear ran in direction of me close to my toes and I began petting him. Form of a bizzare dream. There’s going to be hazards and threat and penalties it’s a must to face however it’s not going to stop me from going on the market once more.”