When a Coast Guard pilot saw an SOS sign on top of a hut and a guy urgently attempting to grab his attention by flailing his hands in the air, he realized something was wrong.
The man said that he had been mauled by a grizzly bear and had spent the previous several sleepless days and nights warding off recurrent visits from the wild animal when he arrived at the isolated mining camp in Nome, Alaska.
Bear Survival
He told his rescuers an incredible story of survival that drew similarities to Leonardo DiCaprio's Oscar-winning 2015 film The Revenant, in which he confronts a bear.
In his 50s or 60s, the unnamed man informed the US Coast Guard he arrived at the camp on July 12th.
He ran across the grizzly a few days later near the mining camp, who dragged him to a nearby river.
He escaped the bear's grasp, suffering only minor injuries to his leg and chest, and made his way back to the camp's cabin, where he nursed his wounds.
Frequent Visits
The bear returned many times during the next week, allegedly tearing the hut's door off its hinges.
"He claimed the bear kept coming back every night, and he hadn't slept in a few days," one of the Coast Guard helicopter's pilots, Lieutenant Commander Jared Carbajal, told The New York Times.
Related Article: Grizzly Bear Dragged 65-Year-Old Woman Out of Tent, Mauled Her to Death in Montana
Spotting the Distress Signal
A US Coast Guard helicopter crew from Kodiak was on its way to a mission on Friday when it altered course to escape inclement weather.
They spotted the man staggering out of the hut, flailing two hands and clearly distressed, at that point.
Lieutenant Junior Grade A.J. Hammac, a co-pilot, told The Times, "He clearly looked like he had been out there for a long."
After Being Rescued
After his adventure, the man was sleep-deprived and only had two rounds of ammo remaining in his handgun.
The man insisted on going to the waiting ambulance after being carried by Coast Guard aircraft to Nome.
"You could sense he was coming off the adrenaline, I guess, and starting to realize what had happened," Carbajal told The Times.
Warning
According to the Coast Guard, the event served as a timely warning to anybody traveling into the wilderness to always bring an emergency beacon or satellite phone with them.
What to do During Bear Encounters
Stop what you're doing and analyze the situation if you come across a bear on the route or in your campground. First, speak in a soothing, tranquil tone to distinguish yourself. Then, slowly back away, ideally in the other direction. Keep a close eye on the bear to observe how it will respond if you walk rather than run. The bear will usually escape in most situations.
When a bear feels threatened, it may 'act' aggressively in response to the perceived threat. A mother bear with cubs, a bear guarding a food supply, or an unexpected encounter are examples of this. Likewise, when a bear becomes aware of you, the closer you approach it, the more likely it is to respond defensively: it may snap its jaws or slap the ground with its front paw while blowing and snorting, and/or lunge or "bluff charge" toward you in an attempt to persuade you to go.
Also Read: Caught on Cam: Brave California Teen Shoved Bear Off Backyard Fence
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