A woman spoke to WESH 2 News after being attacked by a black bear while walking her dog in front of her Volusia County home at night.
Woman attacked by bear while walking her dog
Neighbors helped save the woman, who identified herself as Aydee, from a mother bear protecting her three cubs.
She recalled the bear approaching her on her way home.
“I took off running like that and then she was running after me. And she grabbed me by the shoulders and, I mean, I fell to the ground,” Aydee said.
Aydee suffered scratches to her face, a concussion, and bites and scratches to her lower back that required a trip to the hospital and stitches.
When the 911 operator asked if Aydee was injured, the caller responded, “On her hand, face and back.
So, actually, she was attacked.”
She had just entered her home with her dogs, Amaya and Hemmy, when the adult bear chased her and tackled her down the street.
“The worst (experience) of my life… I’ve never experienced this before. You go through things in life, but this is the worst. Number one I would say,” Aydee said. “I feel lucky to be alive.”
Before the attack, neighbors tell me a man and his wife were across the street when the adult bear came down from this pine tree and began attacking them.
Austin Kennedy watched as the bear looked like it was going to attack the couple.
“The bear came down, because she had cubs and he came down, went after her, he scared the bear, and finally the bear ran over there and attacked the lady,” Kennedy said.
Finding the bear in this tree when they arrived, Fish and Wildlife officers tranquilized the bear and euthanized it, while other neighbors watched and wondered if they could have been saved.
“Unfortunately, the bear scratched the neighbor you know, and I guess she’s lucky to be alive, but as far as euthanizing it, why not relocate it?” said neighbor David Mangham.
But FWC tells us the woman’s injuries prove the bear was a risk to people living here.
“We can’t have bears living in neighborhoods that are willing to hurt someone. We just can’t allow it,” said David Telesco, FWC Bear Management Program Coordinator.
