Wife saves husband from bear's paws

Tatiana Shlyapuzhnikova, a 43-year-old housewife, boldly jumped in a furious battle with a bear, which almost tore her husband into pieces.

Photo: Wife saves husband from bear's paws

The bear, which was kept in a cage in one of the resort cafes in the Russian town of Belokurikha, Altay region, escaped in May. Since then it had been wandering on the outskirts of Belokurikha where Vitaly and Tatiana, together with their 9-year-old daughter Polina were staying on vacation. They were walking through the park when they suddenly heard the desperate cries of a woman and savage roar.

“I looked around and saw a terrible scene. A huge brown bear grabbed away a package with things from the tourists and then attacked the woman!” says Vitaly Shlyapuzhnikov.

Vitaly immediately rushed to help the frightened tourists. He grabbed the bear by the collar and tried to pull it away. However, the beast attacked Vitaly and began to strangle him. “I grapple with the bear literally and we rolled down the slope to the river.” When they found themselves in the water the bear released the man and rushed up the slope again.

A few seconds later Vitaly heard his wife crying for help.

The man immediately ran up the slope. The bear was standing on its rear paws, trying to hook his wife and daughter. Vitaly immediately jumped on the beast’s back, but the bear pushed the man and they grappled again.

Vitaly, covered with blood, tried to throw off his beast, but it did not work, Life.Ru reports.

“That moment I thought that it was the last minute of my life. I was about to die when I suddenly felt that the bear loosened its grip. And then I saw that Tatiana, shouting loudly, was pulling the beast back,” says Vitaly.

“I do not even know how it could happen. I just realized that the bear was about to kill my husband. I grabbed the animal by the collar and shouted as loudly as I could: “Run!”

Fortunately, the bear was scared by the loud Tatiana’s cry and disappeared in the forest. Soon the police arrived. They delivered bleeding Vitaly to the nearest hospital. That day the bear was shot. Tatiana and Polina were very worried about the fact that Vitaly’s wounds could appear to be so severe that doctors would have to amputate his hand. But everything turned out to be alright. When the shock passed Vitaly embraced his wife and said:

“I did not know how strong you are. You almost strangled this bear!”

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