The hiker who was on Sunday has taken to social media to reveal details of the incident. In an Instagram post, Shayne Patrick reveals he played dead while the bear mauled him, and describes how his saved his life. Patrick describes himself on his account as a climber and and explains that he had set out on Signal Mountain in the hopes of photographing a Great Grey Owl.
After more than an hour, he was using to navigate back to the parking lot when he realized he may have got in between a bear and her cub. "I noticed a brown bear cub running up a hill about 50 - 70 yards in front of me. I knew this wasn’t good," writes Patrick, who says he unholstered his bear spray as he saw the mother bear charging towards him and attempted to deploy it.
"As I did she already closed the gap. When she pounced I opted to turn and give her my back and I laid down in the prone position on my belly and braced for the ride, interlocking my hands behind my neck to protect my vitals." In the post, which you can view below, Patrick details how the bear bit him in the legs and started slamming him into the ground.
Next, she went for his neck, which he says he believes was a "kill bite," but fortunately for Patrick, he was still holding the can of bear spray. "As she bit my hands in the back of my neck she simultaneously bit the bear spray can and it exploded in her mouth. This is what saved my life from the initial attack.
" The bear then ran into the woods, leaving Patrick the opportunity to escape t.