Wrestler Awarded for Heroism

A wrestler who saved his friend from a grizzly bear attack -- himself being mauled in the process -- has received an award for his heroism.

“I grabbed and yanked him hard by the ear,” said Cummings, a native of Evanston, Wyoming.

Cummings successfully got the bear’s attention. Backing up as the predator reared up toward him, he described the sensation of the bear’s putrid breath filling his nostrils and himself with a sense of dread.

Cummings described how the bear charged at him with surprising speed, immediately knocking him to the ground. After a short while in the grip of jaws, the bear left him. Cummings’ thoughts were not on his own injuries, but rather that the bear would attack Lowry again. It was when he stood up to look for his teammate that the bear attacked again.

“I called out to Brady to make sure he was alright and I think the bear heard me,” Cummings said. “It kind of circled around and got me again.”

The bear eventually stopped its attack, and Cummings lay still for a few minutes after, hoping to avoid a third encounter.

When it was clear the grizzly had gone, Cummings said he got up and rejoined Lowry. 

Grizzly attacks are usually thus: the bears are surprised and displeased, and often leave once they think the threat has been eliminated.  It can go differently if the bear is sick or hungry, or of course if it is a female with cubs.