10-year-old seriously hurt girl in ‘good spirits’ after B.C. bear attack
PORT COQUITLAM, B.C. — A 10-year-old critically injured girl appears to be in good spirits just two days after being mauled by a mother black bear in British Columbia, a conservation officer says.
Murray Smith of the B.C. Conservation Officer Service said the girl was returning with her father and grandmother from a swim in the Coquitlam River on Saturday afternoon when the trio came across a bear with a cub, prompting the female to attack.
“I understand the integral part was (that) the grandma and the father were very aggressive with the bear and that seemed to back the bear off, to allow the child to be scooped up and taken to the hospital,” Smith said.
A spokeswoman for the B.C. Ambulance Service described the girl’s injuries at the time as critical.