As James Fredrick and Alex Ippoliti were cycling down a gravel road on military land near Anchorage, Alaska, a grizzly bear ran out of the woods and pulled Fredrick off his bike in a horrific attack. The two friends were riding on a road on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richards property near Clunie Lake in Eagle River on Saturday morning when the incident occurred, as reported by Alaska Dispatch News and ABC News.
On the heels of two recent fatal black bear attacks, the cyclists were bear aware and both were wearing “bear bells” so as not to surprise any bears. At first they heard a rustling from the woods, then a grizzly bear suddenly emerged and raced 20 to 30 yards toward them, pulling Fredrick to the ground. “I immediately just started yelling ‘help,’” Fredrick told ADN. “I can’t exaggerate how fast this was. I don’t think it lasted more than seven or eight seconds.” As he was getting bitten and clawed, Fredrick tried to get his bike between he and the grizzly as Ippoliti went for his bear spray. “I had bear spray in a pack on my bike, and it was very easy to get it from there, fortunately,” Ippoliti told ABC News. As the bear turned toward him, Ippoliti emptied the entire can of bear spray, driving the grizzly bear back into the woods.
A grizzly bear seriously injured a cyclist near Anchorage, Alaska. Photo: Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons “[Ippoliti took his shirt off] for a tourniquet and asked me to hold it on my neck while he stood there, yelling at the bear,” Frederick told ADN. They then noticed a bear cub in a tree and proceeded to walk about a quarter-mile down the road to get separation from the momma and its cub as Ippoliti called for help. Frederick was losing a lot of blood. Help came from the base nearby, and Frederick was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage. From ADN:
Fredrick said he sustained major lacerations to his neck and lost part of his bicep muscle in the attack. A doctor told him the neck wound was so close to his carotid artery that it was visible from the wound itself, he said. He also had to get stitches on his eyebrow and nose. Fredrick says the fatal maulings of last week were heavy on his mind even before Saturday. He never imagined this summer’s succession of bear attacks would include him, but he doesn’t attribute it to anything other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time. “I just completely think it’s coincidence. I can’t in any way rack it up to anything else.” One thing he is very certain about: “Alex straight up saved my life,” Fredrick told ADN. “I’d be dead right now without Alex.” Read more about bears on GrindTV Bear chases mountain biker at bike park in Slovakia; video Two men feed a black bear by hand and pay the price; video Bear in Yosemite is accidentally sucked down waterfall; video
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As James Fredrick and Alex Ippoliti were cycling down a gravel road on military land near Anchorage, Alaska, a grizzly bear ran out of the woods and pulled Fredrick off his bike in a horrific attack.
The two friends were riding on a road on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richards property near Clunie Lake in Eagle River on Saturday morning when the incident occurred, as reported by Alaska Dispatch News and ABC News.
On the heels of two recent fatal black bear attacks, the cyclists were bear aware and both were wearing “bear bells” so as not to surprise any bears.
At first they heard a rustling from the woods, then a grizzly bear suddenly emerged and raced 20 to 30 yards toward them, pulling Fredrick to the ground.
“I immediately just started yelling ‘help,’” Fredrick told ADN. “I can’t exaggerate how fast this was. I don’t think it lasted more than seven or eight seconds.”
As he was getting bitten and clawed, Fredrick tried to get his bike between he and the grizzly as Ippoliti went for his bear spray.
“I had bear spray in a pack on my bike, and it was very easy to get it from there, fortunately,” Ippoliti told ABC News.
As the bear turned toward him, Ippoliti emptied the entire can of bear spray, driving the grizzly bear back into the woods.
“[Ippoliti took his shirt off] for a tourniquet and asked me to hold it on my neck while he stood there, yelling at the bear,” Frederick told ADN.
They then noticed a bear cub in a tree and proceeded to walk about a quarter-mile down the road to get separation from the momma and its cub as Ippoliti called for help. Frederick was losing a lot of blood.
Help came from the base nearby, and Frederick was taken to Providence Alaska Medical Center in Anchorage.
From ADN:
One thing he is very certain about:
Fredrick says the fatal maulings of last week were heavy on his mind even before Saturday. He never imagined this summer’s succession of bear attacks would include him, but he doesn’t attribute it to anything other than being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
“I just completely think it’s coincidence. I can’t in any way rack it up to anything else.”
“Alex straight up saved my life,” Fredrick told ADN. “I’d be dead right now without Alex.”
Read more about bears on GrindTV
Bear chases mountain biker at bike park in Slovakia; video
Two men feed a black bear by hand and pay the price; video
Bear in Yosemite is accidentally sucked down waterfall; video
For access to exclusive gear videos, celebrity interviews, and more, subscribe on YouTube!
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