I Played Dead To Remain Alive, Says Survivor of Mont. Bear Attack
A woman who was attacked by a bear yesterday said today that she played dead to fool the animal after being bitten on her arm and leg. A bear rampaged through the campground near Yellowstone National Park yesterday killing one man and injuring Deb Freele and one more man.
In an interview to a television channel, Freele said she woke up just before her arm was bitten by the bear. "I screamed, he bit harder, I screamed harder, he continued to bite," she said.
Freele said that at that point of time her survival instinct kicked in and she thought that the bear would not go away due to her screaming. "I told myself, play dead. I went totally limp. As soon as I went limp, I could feel his jaws get loose and then he let me go," said Freele.
Freele is a frequent camper and she said that she was ready to go for camping again. The woman however, admitted that she would recover both physically and emotionally in due course of time. Freele suffered severe lacerations and crushed bones from bites on her arms, while the man suffered puncture wounds on his calf.
Wildlife officials said that attack was the most brazen by bear in the Yellowstone area since the 1980s. Wildlife officials still were trying to capture the bear and have closed the campground.
It may be recalled a bear attacked and injured a man at the same campground in 2008. A young adult female bear was captured by the wildlife officials after four days and sent to a bear research center in Washington.
