Mom Survives Bear Mauling During Jog, Thanks to Hair Clip

Vanessa Chaput is familiar with the paved trail between her hometown of Haines Junction, in Canada's Yukon territory, and a local campground, and so that's where she chose to take a late-night jog on June 30 with her German shepherd Luna. The sight before her on the trail, however, was an unfamiliar (and startling) one: As the 24-year-old mom turned a corner during her run, she came face to face with three bears—a male and two smaller ones, per Today. Chaput says there was also a fourth bear behind her that she didn't initially see. Luna tore away from her owner to chase after the two smaller bears, leaving Chaput alone with the male bear—which promptly charged at her.

"I picked a tree to get behind but the bear took me down," she says. "It took my head in its mouth and I ended up on the ground." Chaput says as the bear tossed her about, she felt like a "rag doll," with the bear's claws digging into her and the bear even biting her on the arm at one point. The thought that kept her going during the five-minute attack: "I'm not ready to leave my [2-year-old] daughter and my husband." Chaput tells Inside Edition that the bear finally backed off when it bit down on her hair clip, and "the spring part just kind of exploded in his mouth." Luna's loud barking also seemed to spook the bear, which finally retreated.

"Her barking saved my life," Chaput tells Today. She eventually met up with an unharmed Luna along the nearby Alaska Highway and deployed her Apple Watch to call 911 and her husband. Chaput had a 10-day stay at the hospital, where she received care for a broken arm, as well as upward of 30 stitches on her head, back, arm, and ear. "I am very shocked at how lucky I am," she tells Today. In a Facebook post, the Yukon Conservation Officer Services notes that one bear was found near the scene by a conservation staffer and euthanized. "Three additional bears matching the description were located in the area and two were euthanized," says the agency. The Yukon News notes that a search to recover the fourth bear has since been called off, though "conservation officers continue to monitor the area for bear activity." (More bear attack stories.)