Girl Plays Dead, Survives Bear Attack

12-year-old Michigan jogger got knocked down twice
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 17, 2013 12:04 PM CDT
Girl Plays Dead, Survives Bear Attack
File photo of a black bear.   (AP Photo/Toby Talbot)

Another bear attack is in the news, this one an unusual case of a bear attacking a girl seemingly unprovoked. Abby Wetherell, 12, says a black bear came out of the woods and chased her as she jogged on a dirt road in rural Michigan, reports AP. After the bear knocked her down once and she escaped, it caught her a second time and mauled her. The girl says she played dead at that point, which seemed to work, and by then her father and a neighbor were on the scene to chase the bear back into the woods.

"We're very proud of the way she handled herself," says her grandfather. "She kind of amazed us." Abby is recuperating from surgery to repair deep cuts to her thigh, but she is expected to be released in days, reports the Detroit Free Press. The newspaper notes that playing dead isn't always the best advice in a bear attack, though it apparently depends on the situation. In two other attacks this week, one bear pounced to protect her cub and another when it was startled. Four people in all were injured. (More black bear stories.)

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