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Saturday, July 27, 2024
Saturday July 27, 2024
Saturday July 27, 2024

Survivor of grizzly attack recounts: ‘I picked my nose off the ground’ in face reconstruction saga

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In a chilling tale of survival, a man recounts his harrowing encounter with a grizzly bear that nearly claimed his life, leaving him to “pick his nose up off the floor.”

Lee Brooke’s hunting trip in Wyoming turned into a nightmare in 2016 when he crossed paths with a grizzly bear near an elk carcass. The beast attacked him, throwing him to the ground and rendering him unconscious. Yet, amidst the chaos, Lee found a defiant inner voice urging him to fight back.

Despite the ferocity of the bear’s assault, Lee managed to wield a knife he had on him, repeatedly stabbing the bear until it relented and retreated. Recounting the terrifying ordeal on British TV show This Morning in 2017, Lee described the chilling moment of awakening with the bear sniffing his cheek, and the internal directive to resist playing dead.

“I struck out with my left arm. She pulled back. I came up to my knees and started to stab her in the head with my knife, that was still in my hand,” he recounted, driven by the instinct to survive despite the inability to see clearly amidst the struggle.

In the midst of the chaos, Lee remained oblivious to his severe injuries until he glanced down and saw his nose lying on the ground beside him. Despite the shocking sight, he astonishingly gathered it up and tucked it into his pocket, consumed by the immediate need to survive rather than dwell on the gruesome reality.

Severely wounded and in dire need of medical attention, Lee’s calls for help echoed unanswered for hours until a passing couple finally heard his pleas and raised the alarm.

Following a miraculous rescue, Lee underwent extensive medical procedures. His nose, detached during the attack, was salvaged by surgeons who connected it to an artery in his arm. Skin grafts from his leg and portions of his scalp were used for facial reconstruction, a testament to medical prowess amid a life-threatening situation.

Reflecting on the traumatic incident, Lee’s wife, Martha, expressed gratitude for his survival, emphasizing the thin line between tragedy and a miraculous escape. In a world where the unimaginable happened, Lee’s incredible resilience and the medical team’s expertise turned a potential tragedy into a tale of survival against overwhelming odds.

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