A man who was the victim of a bear attack in Colorado has been speaking out after he was left with severe lacerations on his head and neck following the harrowing encounter.
Dave Chernosky, 54, heard a noise coming from the downstairs of the Aspen home he and his family were staying at, early on Friday morning.
‘I was asleep and heard something in the kitchen. And I just kind of laid there thinking, ‘Okay, something’s wrong,” Chernosky told Good Morning America.
Dave Chernosky, 54, came face-to-face with a bear which struck him in the head and neck
Chernosky was woken up on Friday morning after hearing a bear had broken into the home
Cuts to Chernosky’s ear and face are clearly visible after being attacked by a black bear
‘I literally thought I might be dead’, Chernosky said as he described the moment after being hit
‘So I went to the kitchen, saw the bear there. He was already in the fridge and cupboards and stuff like that.’
‘My kids were in the basement, so I wanted to make sure he stayed upstairs,’ he said.
Chernosky described the bear as being dark brown in color but close to 450lbs in weight.
Fearing for his family’s safety, the dad-of-two tried coaxing the black bear into the garage.
Chernosky, 54, and his children were staying at a friend’s house near Aspen, Colorado
Officials with Colorado Parks and Wildlife later tracked the 450lb bear and euthanized it (file photo)
However, when he hit the garage door opener to let it out, the bear panicked and ran back inside the home and began attacking him.
‘I literally thought I might be dead,’ he said to ABC11. ‘It felt like a brick hit me in the head.’
‘As soon as we looked at each other, he just smacked me with his paw one time… and after I got out of the way and started yelling, he left,’ said Chernosky.
He was left with severe cuts on his face and neck after the attack.
‘Luckily, the bear wasn’t really after me,’ he said with some relief.
Chernosky quickly called 911.
‘A bear came in here and he hit me with his paw so I’m bleeding,’ he told operators.
Chernosky ended up being taken to Aspen Valley Hospital and then transferred by ambulance to St. Mary’s Hospital in Grand Junction.
Chernosky described being hit in the head by the bear as like being hit by a brick
He had to have stitches placed along his cheek, jaw, ear and back. Overall, he is expected to make a full recovery.
Colorado Parks and Wildlife area manager Matt Yamashita said officers responded to the incident at about 3am and are investigating how the bear managed to get in
Officials with the department say they were able to find the bear and euthanize it.
It’s the second bear attack in the last couple of days.
A Colorado woman suffered scratch marks after she was attacked by a bear in her residential neighborhood in Manitou Springs on Thursday
On Saturday morning, a woman was attacked by one near Manitou Springs, which lies about 80 miles south of Denver.
The wildlife officers caught the bear near the scene of the attack using trained hounds.
It was then put it down in what was described as ‘humane’ euthanasia.
The sow’s two cubs were found and taken to a rehabilitation center where they will be trained to avoid human contact.
Bears that rummage through trash and eat human food lose their natural fear of people and can become more aggressive in future encounters.
Wildlife officials said the woman was ‘very lucky’ to have only suffered minor injuries.
Colorado wildlife officials are urging residents to secure their trash so that bears do not come to rely on humans for food and lose their natural fear of people, leading to aggressive behavior. The above image is a file photo of a sow in Colorado (file photo)