The victim of an extended attack by a black bear at a remote work camp in northeast B.C. says things could have been much worse if not for the actions of those around him - from the co-workers at the site to the doctors and nurses who treated him in the aftermath.
Thanks to their good work, Gil Graham says he will probably be left with little more than a "few fang holes" on his left thigh as a souvenir to go along with the story he lived to tell.
"I can't say enough about how well I was cared for and how smoothly everything went," Graham said Thursday over the phone from his home in Coquitlam.
On the evening of May 31, Graham and seven co-workers were in the process of reopening a camp that had laid dormant for the last two years thanks to the pandemic. Roughly 2 1/2 hours into the task, Graham went behind one of the bunkhouses to turn on the propane and light up a furnace.
Because he was going to be alone, Graham checked to be sure the coast was clear before proceeding to the spot. But when he stood up to leave the propane tanks, he spotted a "big black mass" out of the corner of his eye and down a slope behind the building.
"I look down, he looks at me, his ears are back, his paws are down, and we're about five feet apart," Graham said. "It was at close range and I know this isn't going to go well."
The two circled each other as Graham tried to find some cover and open up a pathway for the bear to escape, "but he kept just tracking me all through that distance."
Graham ended up back where he started and the bear stood up, then put his paws down and lunged at Graham's thigh. As Graham struggled to protect himself while also whacking the bruin on the nose with a metal flashlight, his co-workers rushed to the scene.
One threw a large boulder that landed on the bear's haunches. It was enough to get the animal to back off from Graham but not enough to make it leave the area. Instead, it went after Graham's would-be rescuers who were forced to retreat behind closed doors.
Then once again, the bear turned on Graham and clamped down on his thigh for a second time. His colleagues, in turn, launched a second rescue attempt. The colleague who threw the boulder returned, this time driving a pickup truck, "horn blaring, speeding towards the bear." Between that and the "combined hail of boulders" from the others at the site, it was enough to get the bruin to retreat enough to let everyone get Graham to a safer spot.
As Graham was being put into the ambulance for an hour-long trip to Tsay Keh Dene at the north end of Williston Lake, he heard gunshots. The bear, which had continued to stand its ground, had been killed.
Graham was eventually flown to Prince George where he underwent surgery at University Hospital of Northern B.C. He's now back at home in Coquitlam with a vacuum pressure bandage around the wound.
Graham said he's "super lucky" that the bear did not hit an artery or damage any bone or tendon and did not tear away any muscle. "Everything went the best it could," he said of the care he got in the hours that followed.
Graham figures it'll be another four to six months of healing overlapped by about a year of physiotherapy before he's truly back on his feet. But he hopes to be returning to lighter duty by the end of this year and believes there should not be any long-lasting damage.
Now 65 years old and after more than 40 years working in resource exploration, Graham said he had been trying to "quietly fade out of the business," just not that way.
He's put in a claim to WorkSafeBC and has been set up with all the medical equipment he needs. A friend, meanwhile, has launched a Go Fund Me campaign to help Graham with any unexpected expenses.
Graham said he was initially reluctant to give the campaign the go-ahead but his friend insisted he take the step while also telling him that any unspent money can be passed on to worthy causes such as the nursing school at University of Northern B.C.
"So I went 'okay, I'm good with that," he said.
As of Thursday, nearly $11,500 had been raised from more than 50 donors - a total Graham called "humbling."
As for the attack, Graham said it was "one in a million" and noted that conservation officers deemed it a "startle event."
Graham came away impressed by the animal's strength and power. For a time, the bear was in control, he said.
"It's out of your hands, whatever is going to be happening."
Even so, Graham was matter-of-fact as he told his tale. He credited his years of experience and the actions of those around him for preventing a bad situation from becoming worse.
"Panicking wouldn't have had any mileage to it...so better to take measure of what's going on and trying to get the upper hand by working with your pals and get this thing off of me," he said with a laugh.
