He speaks of the encounter..todays T/C.
It was Walter Thomas's lunch, not his life, that a grizzly bear was likely after when it attacked him in a dense forest on the Central Coast on Wednesday, a conservation officer said yesterday.
Port Alberni resident Thomas, 58, remains in Royal Jubilee Hospital where yesterday he underwent a second surgery to repair his injured right arm. A dramatic helicopter rescue plucked Thomas from thick brush near Smith Inlet, on the mainland north of Port Hardy, after he suffered severe injuries to the arm in the attack.
He is in stable condition but is in pain, said Shannon Marshall, spokeswoman for the Vancouver Island Health Authority.
Thomas's family is with him at the hospital, but is declining media interviews and is requesting privacy.
Thomas was able yesterday to describe his ordeal in greater detail to Rod Olsen, operations manager for the Thompson-Cariboo conservation service.
Olsen said Thomas had been working in the woods at Wyclese Lagoon, assisting a helicopter to lift shake blocks out of an old clearcut that had grown over with thick brush.
At 11:30 a.m., the grizzly appeared beside Thomas and attacked him, tearing off his backpack.
The company Thomas worked for knew grizzlies frequented the bush there, but believed they had started their hibernation and were no longer a threat, said Olsen.
It now appears the grizzly attacked Thomas partly because it wanted the lunch in the pack he wore on his back. Thomas escaped major injuries to his legs because he was wearing faller's pants, which are strengthened with Kevlar.
The bear moved up Thomas's body. He suffered defensive wounds to his right arm, which got the worst of the attack.
Thomas was able to fend off the animal and call the helicopter pilot, Brent Fedirchuk of Port Alberni, for assistance.
Thomas's hands were badly mauled, so another logger tied him onto a line hanging below the helicopter. Fedirchuk then lifted Thomas out of the bush, said Sharon Fedirchuk, the pilot's mother, in an e-mail.
Fedirchuk then returned to remove the other logger by the same method as the bear thrashed around in the nearby bushes.
Sharon Fedirchuk credits her son and the other logger for rescuing Thomas from the scene.
A team of conservation officers yesterday flew by helicopter to the site of the mauling and came upon the most difficult conditions that any of them have ever experienced, said Olsen.
"Even at the points where they were on the ground and the helicopter was hovering over them, the pilot couldn't see the four officers," Olsen said.
The forestry workers in the area commonly use high-powered flashlights even in daytime to identify their location to the helicopter. It's impossible to land a helicopter there, he said, because of the growth.
"Even in the more open areas, where there are spruce and hemlock, it looks like 4:30 p.m. or dusk when it's actually noon," said Olsen.
Spotting bears approaching would be nearly impossible, he said. The conservation officers saw no sign of either man's backpacks, which had been carrying food.
After hearing about the conditions, Olsen said it's remarkable that Thomas got out alive.
The forestry company will not return to work in the area, Olsen said.
He suggests that the grizzly was surprised to see Thomas, but then focused on getting the food from the pack. Thomas will be interviewed again once he has recovered.
Olsen calls the attack "very, very unique," since the presence of the helicopter could have been expected to have scared away the grizzly
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Yogi the Bear? looking for a picanic basket!
Take only what you need.
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