Canadian Man Fends Off Polar Bear with Cell Phone
OutdoorHub Reporters 09.10.13
The last thing that Garett Kolsun expected on a nightly walk in the town of Churchill was a polar bear in the street. According to the CBC, it was Kolsun’s first time in the northern Canadian town. Kolsun came to Churchill for employment opportunities and was unaware that the area is home to a number of wild polar bears. In fact, Churchill is one of the few human settlements where the bears wander near, or sometimes even into, town.
“When you’re in Churchill, take a cab,” Kolsun jokingly advised after the incident. “Or drive. Don’t walk after dark.”
Kolsun was walking alone in the early morning through an industrial part of the town on Saturday when he spotted a polar bear. He did not have much time to react.
“As I looked over, I could see a polar bear charging me. It was running full-tilt towards me,” he said. “So I turned to try to run to find someplace safe to go. But where I was there was no place to really go.”
All the businesses Kolsun could see were closed and their doors locked. The man frantically searched for means of escape but he knew he could not outrun the animal.
“So I turned on the bear and it just kept charging. It came up closer and I started yelling and screaming and trying to raise my arms up to keep the bear away from me as best I could,” he recalled. “I kept running in circles and backwards and yelling, hollering for help and everything else.”
Kolsun attempted to break into a nearby bakery but by then the bear was too close. Trapped between a solid door and receiving bites from the bear, Kolsun needed something to distract the animal before the mauling got worse.
“So I pulled my cell phone out of my pocket, turned it on and the screen lit up,” he said. “I turned it towards the bear, put it in his face and it stepped back.”
Kolsun’s last-ditch effort did the trick. The polar bear reared back and knocked over a planter and turned around. Kolsun seized on the opportunity and slipped out of the bear’s reach, running down the street and into a home.
“I was just happy to see some people,” he said.
Kolsun eventually called a cab and had his injuries treated at a nearby hospital. As it turns out, his wounds were surprisingly light.
“It pawed at me,” he said. “It ripped my shirt a few times…I have scratches on my chest, some going down and a couple going sideways.”
Kolsun also received two puncture wounds on his hip where the bear bit him. All in all, he considers himself lucky. The bear that attacked him was later captured and is now being evaluated by wildlife authorities.
A city official later said that bears are most active during this time of year and that residents would do well to avoid nighttime walks. Every year Churchill receives thousands of visitors and tourists who come to the town hoping to catch a glimpse of polar bears. For Kolsun, it was a far closer experience than he would have liked.
