An unprovoked attack in the West Canadian mountains left a biker in the hospital, lucky to be alive.
Colin Dowler faced a titan of the North American animal kingdom on the day before his 45th birthday. If it weren't for his quick thinking and the pocket knife he was gifted weeks earlier, he may not have been around to celebrate.
Dowler is recovering from wounds sustained during an unprovoked grizzly bear attack on July 29. He spoke with the BBC from his hospital bed, and recounted the story that forever changed his life.
The attack happened near Mount Doogie Dowler, which just happened to be named after Colin's grandfather. He and his brother were planning to crest the peak later this year, and the trip was essentially a scouting mission to check out potential hiking trails.
Dowler saw the bear after coming around a bend on the biking trail, and was about 100 feet away, or "too close in my opinion," he said.
He watched the bear for a few moments, hoping it would retreat into the woods, but it approached him at a typical pace. That prompted Dowler to dismount from his bike, take his backpack off, and arm himself with a hiking pole, "as some semblance of a deterrent."
The bear continued just past Dowler and his bike, then "made a hard turn to the left" to get behind him.
Understandably so, that move made Dowler go from "uncomfortable to wildly uncomfortable." He threw his bike at the grizzly, but to no avail.
The bear began taking swings at Dowler, and eventually went for his abdomen, biting and lifting the man before dropping him near a ditch about 50 feet away. It then continued its attack, biting Dowler's legs. He recalled the sound of bear teeth grating on bone. Gouges to the bear's eye proved useless.
That's when he reached for the pocket knife, gifted to him by his father two weeks earlier, and used it to stab the bear in the neck. The bruin immediately let go and left, returning from the direction it had come from.
Dowler quickly used the knife to make a tourniquet for his wounded leg, recovered his bike, and began a four and a half mile trip to a logging camp. Once he arrived and saw the five workers at the camp, he collapsed.
As luck would have it, all the workers knew first aid, and called an air ambulance to help.
"They just went to work, doing their best to save my life," Dowler said. "They're truly the heroes of the story because there's no way I would have made it without [them]."
Provincial conservation officers, who declared it to be an unprovoked attack, tracked the bear in the woods and dispatched the individual. They reported that they were confident it was the same bear that attacked Dowler, mainly because of the knife wound in its neck.
According to provincial records and reports, British Columbia is home to some 15,000 estimated grizzlies and 120,000 to 150,000 black bears. About 14,000 to 25,000 bear sighting calls per year are taken by the province, with a small percentage ending in the bear being tracked and killed.
Experts seem to agree; if you are faced with a grizzly encounter, do not panic, and do not flee. Make loud noises and slowly back away. It doesn't hurt to be prepared with bear spray or a sidearm, either.
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