A South Hadley man who has lived through explosions and being shot at still described the bear attack he went through as “the most violent thing [he has] ever experienced.”
Shayne Patrick Burke, a disabled veteran in the army reserve, shared his ordeal being attacked by a grizzly bear at Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming May 19 for the first time in an Instagram post last week. Burke, 35, was hospitalized with serious injuries, according to the National Park Service.
Gory pictures posted by Burke showed deep gashes and cuts to his hands, shoulder, and legs. One photo shows him lying on the ground, bloodied, holding a knife in case the bear returned before help arrived.
“I laid alone in the woods gripping my knife with my back to a tree just hoping the bear wasn’t to return,” he wrote about the moments after the attack.
‘Uncomfortable feeling’: Burke saw bear cub moments before attack
Burke said in the Instagram post made Thursday that he was attacked by a mother grizzly bear protecting her cub while he was walking through the woods on Signal Mountain in Grand Teton. He was trying to get pictures of a Great Gray Owl, an elusive bird that can sometimes be seen at the park.
As he was hurrying back to the parking lot where his wife was waiting for him, Burke said he had an “uncomfortable feeling.” He began breaking branches, singing, and talking to himself out loud, precautions recommended to keep bears away.
Burke was walking through a wooded area in a valley when he saw a brown bear cub running up a hill not far from him, he said.
“I knew this wasn’t good, I unholstered my bear spray and saw the mother bear charging,” Burke wrote. “I stood my ground, shouted and attempted to deploy the bear spray but as I did she already closed the gap.”
Burke’s bear spray exploded in bear’s mouth, scaring her away
As the bear attacked, Burke turned his back to her, laying down on his stomach. He locked his hands behind his neck to protect his “vitals” and “braced for the ride,” he wrote.
“The first bite and slash was on my back/right shoulder,” Burke recounted. “I screamed… She bit one of my legs, picking me up and slamming me on the ground multiple times.”
The bear bit both of his legs three times, Burke said, at which point he screamed again.
“This unfortunately turned her attention to my head,” he wrote. “I believe she went in for a kill bite on my neck.”
As the bear bit at Burke’s hands, she also bit the bear spray can he was holding behind his neck. The can exploded in her mouth, and she ran away.
“This is what saved my life from the initial attack,” Burke said.
Burke then ran in the opposite direction of the bear and attempted to call his wife, but the call didn’t go through. He texted her “attacked” instead.
His wife called 911 as Burke applied makeshift tourniquets fashioned out of his backpack, fanny pack, and camera straps to his legs. Then he filmed a video for his loved ones in case he didn’t make it, he said.
“Unfortunately my legs both had multiple puncture wounds,” Burke wrote. “In this moment, I accepted on that small hill top that I very well could die. I recorded a short video telling my people that I loved them.”
Burke was eventually reached by first responders, who provided first aid on scene, then airlifted him out of the woods. He was taken by ambulance to St. John’s Hospital in Wyoming, where he underwent emergency surgery to clean and staple his wounds.
Burke pleaded with rangers not to capture, kill the bear
Despite his horrific ordeal, Burke said one of the first things he told first responders was to not kill the bear that attacked him, adding that he has a deep “love and respect” for wildlife.
“The second thing I said to the park rangers was please don’t kill the bear, she was defending her cub,” Burke wrote. “What happened up on Signal Mountain was a case of wrong place wrong time.”
The National Park Service said experts suspected the incident was a “surprise encounter” between Burke and two bears. The Boston Globe reported that park rangers said the bear will not be killed or captured.
Burke thanked the rangers at the park for helping save his life and said knowledge about bear attacks helped him protect himself.
“The number one thing that kept me alive during the attack was reading and understanding what to do in the event of a bear attack and being prepared with the bear spray,” Burke wrote. “Though I am not sure if I got to spray any at the bear, having it on me and keeping it in my hands while protecting my vitals 100% is the only reason I am telling my story now.”
