Natalya Pasternak, then aged 55, was attacked and left for dead by a bear in the forest in Tynda, Siberia, before she was later found half dead by hunters who had taken down the beast
Russia: Woman partially buried by bear after being attacked in 2015
A woman who was feared to have been torn apart by a hungry bear when she was out for a stroll was later found buried alive.
Natalya Pasternak, then aged 55, was out for a walk with friend Valentina Gorodetskaya, 80, and her dog in the woods when the massive predator appeared. It first mauled Natalya before turning its attention to her friend, aged in her 80s, but then returned to her and ripped at her with its massive claws while her pal escaped the horror.
The bear took Natalya and, thinking she was dead, dumped her on the ground and covered her under a large pile of leaves, presumably to return to later on. It was here she was later found covered in blood by hunters in the forest in Tynda, Siberia.
Five weeks later she spoke of the horror, saying: “When I saw the bear, I tried to escape. Then I remembered about my friend and stopped. That was the moment when the predator attacked me.
“The animal started to tear my legs apart and I tried to attack him with something I was using to collect birch sap.”Then a quick thought hit me: ‘If the bear takes my legs, I’ll be disabled for the rest of my life. It’s better to die than to be a burden to my children.
“Valentina was also hitting the bear with a stick and praying. For some time the bear switched to her and hit her on her back. Then it started tearing me apart again.
“Valentina escaped and, despite her age, she made it to a water cleaning facility and called the emergency services. Despite such a nightmare, I didn’t go mad. A prayer that I was screaming out loud helped me.”
The mum of three was relearning how to walk at the time she spoke in 2015 when she revealed the first thing she asked her hunter saviours. She added: “When rescuers came “my first question was if they had killed the bear.”
“I’m feeling well now and they’re helping me a lot in the hospital. I can now stand up and walk a little bit with the help of my daughter. It’s terrible to imagine what could have happened if it wasn’t for Valentina.”
One of the first on the scene was hunter Sergei Ivanov, who did indeed shoot the animal dead. He said: “I looked and saw a woman, almost completely buried.
Only her bloodied face and one arm were sticking out, but she was alive and breathing. She asked, ‘Did you kill the bear?’ Then she said, ‘Dig me out’.”