A mother from the Yukon, Canada, is detailing how she managed to fight off grizzly bears in a harrowing attack and walk away from the scene alive. Vanessa Chaput, 24, says she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time." On June 30, 2024, she was jogging near Haines Junction and Pine Lake Campground with her German shepherd, Luna, at 10:30 p.m.
As she rounded a corner, she was startled to come face-to-face with three bears, and a fourth one that she didn't initially see. Vanessa tells TODAY.com that she spotted the male first, which is the one that attacked her.
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Vanessa recalled backing away and tugging at Luna's leash, as the dog's bark often scares away bears. But the dog became defensive and ran after the two smaller bears. The woman was left alone with the larger bear, which then charged her.
"I picked a tree to get behind but the bear took me down," she told TODAY.com. "It took my head in its mouth and I ended up on the ground."
Vanessa and the bear struggled around on the ground for a while as she fought back, saying she was "thrown around" by the large animal. "You feel like a rag doll and there’s nothing you can do." She described herself as feeling "an insane amount of pressure" and recalls her "adrenaline going," adding that she has a high pain tolerance that likely aided in her ability to fight back.
She remembers thinking, "I’m not ready to leave my daughter and my husband," which sent her into "survival mode."
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As she remembers it, the attack lasted for approximately five minutes before the bear suddenly let go of her head and ran away. Vanessa believes that her hair clip exploding in the bear’s mouth or the snap of branches beneath her may be to credit for that. She had to expel pieces of branches that were lodged in her throat, and then crouched behind a tree. But the bear wasn't done.
Vanessa says the bear turned around and started running back at her. "I didn’t think I could handle another round," she said. Luckily, Luna's barking from a distance seemed to scare the bear off for good, as the animal hit the ground with his paw and took off toward the barking. The mother made her way to the highway and was reunited with an unharmed Luna.
She called her husband, Dave Leegstra, and 911 with her Apple Watch. Vanessa was hospitalized for 10 days and received over 30 stitches on her head, back, arm, and ear. She suffered a broken arm and lost blood, but not to the point of needing a transfusion. After eight days, she was able to reunite with her daughter who was told by David that, "Mommy had an ow-ie."
While Vanessa isn't quite ready to return to jogging the trail, she, Luna, and her family — along with an armed conservation officer — did revisit the scene where the attack took place in order to help her process her emotions.
"I am very shocked at how lucky I am," she shared. "I’m extremely thankful that God was watching over me that day."
