Shayne Burke is a disabled fight veteran who’s been shot at, mortared, and bloodied in battle. However he says probably the most violent factor he’s ever skilled was being attacked by a grizzly bear in Grand Teton Nationwide Park on Might 19. Burke was badly wounded within the assault, and he says he seemingly would have been killed if not for the canister of bear spray he held in his hand, which blew up within the bear’s mouth when it tried biting him within the neck. Burke was launched from a hospital in Jackson on Monday, and he’s anticipated to make a full restoration, in response to the National Park Service. (Warning: This story accommodates graphic pictures.)
Two days earlier than his launch from the hospital, Burke took to Instagram to share an in depth account of what occurred that day on Sign Mountain. He thanked his spouse and the search-and-rescue professionals who assisted him, and he emphasised the significance of being ready and understanding reply within the case of a grizzly assault.
“The primary factor that saved me alive in the course of the assault was studying and understanding what to do within the occasion of a bear assault and being ready with the bear spray,” Burke writes within the Instagram publish. “Although I’m not positive if I acquired to spray any on the bear, having it on me and holding it in my fingers whereas defending my vitals 100% is the one purpose I’m telling my story now.”
The 35-year-old Massachusetts resident explains that he’d gone on a hike by himself up the Sign Mountain Path in hopes of photographing an ideal grey owl. He’d instructed his spouse he’d be again at his car in an hour however stayed slightly longer than deliberate, so he circled and bushwhacked his manner again to the parking zone following the GPS on his cellphone. He says he felt uncomfortable strolling off path, so he broke branches and sang to alert any animals to his presence.
As he walked via the thick woods and regarded towards a slope on his proper, he seen a cub operating up a slope “50-70 yards” in entrance of him. He then noticed the cub’s mom already charging his manner, so he unholstered the bear spray canister that was hooked up to his bino harness. He stood his floor and ready to spray, however by the point he acquired the security off, the grizzly had already closed the hole.
Learn Subsequent: How to Use Bear Spray
“When she pounced, I opted to show and provides her my again and I laid down within the susceptible place on my stomach and braced for the journey, interlocking my fingers behind my neck to guard my vitals,” Burke writes. “The primary chew and slash was on my again [and] proper shoulder.”
The sow continued her assault, biting into every of Burke’s legs, after which lifting him up and slamming him into the bottom repeatedly. With the UDAP bear spray canister nonetheless clutched in considered one of his fingers, a screaming Burke saved each fingers interlocked behind his neck and head because the grizzly turned its consideration from his legs to the again of his head.
“I consider she went in for a kill chew on my neck,” Burke writes. “As she bit my fingers [on] the again of my neck, she concurrently bit the bear spray can and it exploded in her mouth. That is what saved my life from the preliminary assault.”
After watching the bear run away, Burke limped downhill and despatched a one-word textual content to his spouse: “attacked.” When his spouse known as, he relayed what occurred whereas he original makeshift tourniquets utilizing the straps from his backpack and fanny pack. Unable to stroll any additional on his broken legs, he sat in opposition to a tree and gripped his knife whereas he waited for rescuers to reach.
“On this second, I accepted on that small hilltop that I very effectively may die,” Burke writes. “I recorded a brief video telling my folks that I liked them.”
Happily, Burke’s family members would by no means have to observe that video, and he was nonetheless alert and acutely aware by the point the primary park ranger arrived in a helicopter. After being airlifted all the way down to the parking zone, Burke was transported by ambulance to St. John’s Hospital in Jackson for remedy.
Wanting again on the incident, Burke says he ought to have had his first-aid equipment that day, however that he solely carried a small daypack, fanny pack, and bino harness as a result of it “was meant to be a brief stroll within the roadside woods.” And though he had saved his bear spray accessible on his bino harness, he says the significance of with the ability to draw a canister and deploy it shortly can’t be understated.
“A vital side is to observe taking the security off. I did this however not enouch,” Burke writes in a remark. “With the ability to take it off and never have to have a look at the security is paramount and will make all of the distinction.”
Learn Subsequent: An Expert’s Guide on How to Stay Alive in Grizzly Bear Country
As for the grizzly sow, Burke says that one of many first issues he requested park rangers was to please not kill the bear, which was solely defending its cubs. Park officers have since introduced that no additional “administration motion” is required for the bear, in response to the New York Times.
“What occurred up on Sign Mountain,” Burke writes, “was a case of mistaken place mistaken time.”
