12 year-old Olle Frisk was skiing with his friends near Funsdalen, Sweden when he fell through the snow and directly into the den of a female brown bear. The bear awoke and attacked the boy, biting his legs and scratching his back with her claws. Frisk’s reaction to this situation is startling, but it likely saved his life.
“I accepted death. The feeling was ‘let it come,’” said Frisk, as quoted by the UK Mirror. “She threw herself on top of me. It was only when I stopped trying to fight that I was given a chance.”
After he stopped struggling, the bear let go of him and went out of the den. “It then became quiet and she stepped over me and left, thinking I was dead,” he said. Once outside, Frisk’s friends managed to scare the bear off, and came to his rescue. Frisk was taken to a hospital where he was treated for his injuries, and is reported to be recovering well at home.
But the story isn’t over. Wildlife experts had been keeping watch over the bear’s den, looking to see if she returns to care for the three cubs inside. When she did not return, the decision was made to shoot the three bear cubs. Despite his injuries, Olle said he thought that decision “was wrong.”
(The Mirror, Gadling, image and story via Op.se)
