A man has described the terrifying moment he had most of his tongue and jaw ripped off by an eight-foot bear in the Alaskan wilderness.
Wes Perkins, 65, from Nome, Alaska, was out on a hunting trip with his friend Dan Stang, and Dan Stang’s son, Edward Stang, in 2011.
Perkins said he had to dig the debris from his airway and lost all but a few teeth in the attack.
He told Newsweek: ‘So telling myself to function and never close my eyes or go unconscious was the main concentration.’
Wes Perkins, 65, from Nome, Alaska, was out on a hunting trip with his friend Dan Stang, and Dan Stang’s son, Edward Stang, in 2011
Pictured: Grizzly or brown bear (file photo). Perkins and his group saw a grizzly bear in the distance and started to track it before it disappeared quickly out of sight
The former fire chief and his group saw a grizzly bear in the distance and started to track it before it disappeared quickly out of sight.
The bear then suddenly reappeared, but it was much closer than they had expected.
‘I turned and saw the bear, full charge,’ Perkins told Anchorage Daily News around a year after the attack.
‘I only had time to say, ‘Oh s***!’ But I got [my] gun [halfway] off my back… When I turned around, the bear was that close. I had no time to do anything.’
Perkins was savaged by the bear in what has been described as one of the most horrific attacks on record, leaving his face severely disfigured.
The attack has now become the subject of a short documentary by filmmaker Donnie Rosie, who was in Alaska for another project when he heard about Perkins’ story.
‘I look back and the bear’s on top of [Perkins]’, Dan Stang told Rosie in the documentary.
He immediately grabbed his gun and started shooting at the animal.
The bear then started to charge at him, so his son began to fire shots, with the animal eventually dying from its injuries.
‘I probably saved Wes’s life and my son saved my life in the same ordeal,’ Dan Stang said.
Throughout the attack, Perkins stayed conscious.
Dan Stang had rolled Perkins forward to keep his injured face buried in the snow in order to numb it.
Afterwards, Dan Stang radioed for immediate assistance.
After the attack, Perkins had titanium plates inserted in both cheeks and a titanium rib around the jawbone during the facial reconstruction process
Perkins was savaged by the bear in what has been described as one of the most horrific attacks on record, leaving his face severely disfigured
In a stroke of luck, the first person to respond was Perkins’ brother, who immediately contacted a rescue helicopter, piloted by Ben Rowe.
‘I was lucky enough that I was able to get up, with their help, and walk into the helicopter,’ Perkins told Donnie Rosie in the documentary.
He was then rushed back to Nome, before being taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.
‘I had no airway unless I kept my head tilted to the side just right,’ Perkins said.
The bear had also caused huge damage to one of Perkins’ eyes.
Perkins spent the next four months in hospital, undergoing numerous operations.
He had titanium plates inserted in both cheeks and a titanium rib around the jawbone during the facial reconstruction process.
He also had a fibula bone graft, where they took his left fibula from the lower leg and made a jaw from it.
Perkins dedicates a lot of his time to helping other victims of mauling incidents through their recovery
Perkins couldn’t speak properly for several months and had to instead communicate by writing.
Doctors told him he may never be able to eat or drink via his mouth again.
He became addicted to painkillers, having taken morphine, and opiates during the recovery.
Darcee Perkins, Perkins’ daughter, told Newsweek: ‘Not any person would have survived this or continue to today—I couldn’t have. His will to survive and keep going, stay positive.’
Over ten years later, Perkins’ face has healed, though the scarring remains, and he is able to live a happy life.
He still explores the wilderness, hunting moose and bears and moose as he used to.
Perkins said: ‘[I] do most everything I used to do but since I cannot close my mouth, I cannot swim and it’s hard to run or jog, as my jaw bounces because I lost so much muscle in my jaw… but hell, those are small things in life. I do everything else.’
He dedicates a lot of his time to helping other victims of mauling incidents through their recovery.
Perkins said: ‘I do what I can to pay it forward, and have always had a positive attitude.’
