Add thelocalreport.in As A Trusted Source
An ultra marathon runner brutally attacked by a bear Has told about his terrifying near-death experience in the forest.
Billy Halloran has metal plates inserted in his arm after he was bitten by a strongman black bearA piece of her hip bone was broken and she underwent three surgeries after the attack earlier this month.
The 32-year-old man was 4km into an 8km race when he encountered two Asian blacks Bear In the forest near the city of Myoko, Japan, where he lives.
Mr Halloran, who is originally from Auckland, New Zealand, realized he was in danger and began to back away but one of the bears began charging towards him.
“It was around my size, it was an adult, it weighed at least 60 or 70 kilos,” he said. cnn“I could see he was going to pounce on me – and he did. He caught my arm and I fell to the ground. Then with one blow my arm was destroyed.”
Even after this, the bear continued to bite his leg, leaving holes and scratches in his paws and eventually went away.
“It’s hard to remember that moment,” Mr Halloran said. radio new zealand“I was screaming a lot in fight or flight, thinking, ‘Okay, this is either going to be really bad, like it’s going to let go and run away, or it’s just going to keep going.’
“I thought, I’m just going to have to save myself here, or let’s say, this is the worst case.”
After the bear left, Mr Halloran called his wife to pick him up and he managed to run another 1km to meet him, fearing the animals would return.
Although the runner still needs a lot of physical rehabilitation, he said he hopes to train for more ultramarathon races in the future despite the ordeal.
There have been a record number of deaths from bear attacks in Japan this year, with at least seven people dead since April.
Last week, a 60-year-old man went missing while cleaning an outdoor hot spring bath on Thursday raising fears he was the latest victim of a bear attack. Fuji Television Network reported that at least five others were injured after the attacks in Akita and Fukushima prefectures.
Experts argue The climate crisis and rising temperatures are affecting bears’ hibernation patterns, while habitat loss and food shortages are also to blame.
Earlier in October, a man in his 70s was found dead after being attacked by the animal in the northern Iwate region. Local media reported that his head and torso were severed. Two days later, the body of another man in his 70s was discovered in a forest in Iwate.
Following an increase in attacks, the Japanese government relaxed restrictions on shooting bears in residential areas in April. Hunters can now shoot in densely populated areas without explicit permission from the police.