A 10-year-old boy is in recovery after he jumped off his trampoline in his grandparent’s backyard and a 250-pound black bear ran out of the woods and tried to drag him into the wilderness to maul him to death.
Fortunately, the boy was saved and is on his way to recovering after receiving two puncture wounds to his thigh, bite marks to his foot and ankle, and claw marks on his back. So, keep reading on because we’re going to fill you in on how the entire incident went down.
The boy’s grandma says that the 10-year-old was playing in the backyard when he jumped off the trampoline and that’s when the bear stalking him from the nearby woods ran out and latched onto his leg.
The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection said the incident happened around 11am on Sunday (Oct 16) in the small town of Morris, Connecticut.
The boy’s grandpa Jim Butler was in the backyard when it happened and saw what happened but he was in a wheelchair. Even with his disability, he rolled his chair over and to the bear and threw a metal bar at the bear’s head, causing the apex predator to release his grandson.
The bear then grabbed the 10-year-old for a second time and tried to use his claws to roll the boy over onto his back. A neighbor who was outside with his wife heard the cries for help and ran over with a metal pipe and was able to scare the bear off.
“The bear was still on scene nearby when our environmental conservation police officers arrived and did euthanize the bear,” Jenny Dickson, director of the wildlife division for DEEP told News 12 Connecticut.
The boy was rushed to the hospital where he was treated and released while the remains of the bear were sent to the Connecticut Veterinary Medical Diagnostic Laboratory in Storrs to run tests on it and further study it.
The boy’s grandma who did not want her name released said that the boy is doing OK but is obviously traumatized by the attack.