While searching for an elk he'd shot the night before, a hunter from Pennsylvania was attacked by a grizzly bear near Dubois, WY.

According to an interview with KDVR Fox 31 in Denver, Lee Brooke was hunting with family and friends back in October of 2016 and had shot an elk late in the afternoon, but was unable to find the animal before night fall.  Returning to the area where he'd shot the elk the next morning, he found his elk and unknowingly walked right into a life threatening situation.

Lee's elk had been partially covered with pine needles and other debris.  A sure sign that a bear had claimed the elk and was protecting it's location by trying to cover it up.  He immediately recognized that he was in a dangerous situation.  As Lee turned to leave he was quickly knocked to the ground by a sow grizzly bear and was rendered unconscious during the struggle.

Once he came to, Lee found himself under the large grizzly and without a firearm.  Lucky for Lee his fight to stay alive was strong and he remembered he had a pocket knife on him.  Using the knife he fought back against the bear and was able to get it to leave him along and vacate the area.

A couple in the area heard Lee's calls for help and found him near death with half of his face removed by the bears razor sharp claws.  They were able to call local authorizes for help and Lee was able to be stabilized by doctors and then life-flighted to Denver.

Several hours of surgery helped save his life and preserve some of his facial features.  Now after several months of skin graphs and reconstructive surgery, Lee was able to head back home to Pennsylvania.  Doctors will continue to to try and rebuild Lee's face, nose and upper lip which they suspect could take up to a year to complete.

 

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