GRAPHIC: Polar Bear Brutally Attacks Inuit Man

This Inuit man was sleeping in his tent when he was the victim of a sudden and brutal polar bear attack.

These photos of the aftermath of the polar bear attack are pretty incredible and periodically turn up at different places on the internet with various different stories. They are genuine photos and here is the full story of the incident.

Kootoo Shaw clearly remembers the incident: in September of 2003, he was guiding a group of American caribou hunters in the Canadian territory of Nunavut when he became the victim of a sudden and violent polar bear attack.

A young male polar bear ripped through his tent while he was sleeping and pulled him outside. Fortunately for Shaw, one of the American hunters had his rifle handy and was able to shoot the bear and save his life. He was then evacuated to a hospital and has spent the last decade recovering physically and psychologically from the incident.

Kootoo Shaw now travels to communities all over Nunavut sharing his story and providing advice to people on what to do to survive a bear attack.

Scroll down to see the photos documenting the results of this polar bear attack.

WARNING: Some of these photos are extremely graphic. 

Even though Shaw survived the polar bear attack, he had several broken ribs, bruises, and claw and tooth marks all over his body.

In case you can't tell, that is the top of his head. Shaw needed over 300 staples to close all of his wounds from the attack.

As bad as Shaw looked after the attack, the bear certainly got the worst of it and died at the scene courtesy of one of the American hunters Shaw was guiding.

Even though the bear was described as a "young male", it still weighed over 800 pounds and was able to throw Shaw around like a rag doll.

View from the inside of the tent where Shaw was sleeping when the polar bear attack began. Shaw returned to the campsite where the attack happened in 2010. The tent was still there.

There is often a photo of a badly injured foot and lower leg that is included with the other photos from this bear attack. However, that photo is from a gunshot wound a completely different person suffered in a completely different incident and is not at all related to the polar bear attack on Kootoo Shaw. I can assure you that the other photos of the incident are 100% genuine.

Make sure you are extremely careful and are well armed when in bear country!

Like what you see here? You can read more great hunting articles by John McAdams on his hunting blog. Follow him on Twitter @TheBigGameHunt.

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