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A Utah woman is improving after being mauled by a grizzly bear.
The mother of 21-year-old Abi Sisk says her daughter has been moved out of the critical care unit at Providence Alaska Medical Center.
Tammy Sisk tells the Anchorage Daily News that her daughter will have surgery for a broken jaw on Saturday.
Abi went for a walk Tuesday night, on a trail just outside the lodge she was working at, when a large grizzly bear, perhaps as tall as 8 feet, attacked her.
Her dad, Stan Sisk, remembers how he found out. "She's a pretty sharp cookie. So, when I got the call that she was attacked by a bear, I was pretty shocked," Stan said.
Abi was working a summer job at the Kenai Princess Wilderness Lodge, located south of Anchorage. Lodge general manager Dan Michels says the attack was quick.
"Then all of the sudden, boom! It was on her. She played dead, and it left her. But she got back up, and it came back," Michels said.
Abi has bite wounds on her arms and legs, a broken jaw and several puncture wounds. Part of her scalp was torn off. "That's their biggest concern right now, is infection. It was a long time before they were able to re-attach the scalp," Stan said.
Robert Vin Zant was a guest at the lodge, along with his daughter. He heard Abi's screams and, without giving it a second thought, charged the bear, most likely saving Abi's life.
"The bear stood up and looked at me; and at that point, I stopped. I wasn't sure that the bear wasn't going to come at me or not. And then he got down on all fours and jetted down a steep embankment," Vin Zant said.
The lodge where Abi works remains open, but new signs are posted to warn arriving guests that the bear danger is high. This isn't the first time an employee has been attacked there -- the last time was 2005.
As for Abi, she underwent six hours of surgery and, as of this morning, she was talking and joking, though her condition is still listed as critical.
"She's got a pretty good sense of humor. One of the things she said as she was being hauled off was, ‘Be sure to tell my mom that I finally saw a bear!'" Michels said.
Abi will remain in the hospital in Anchorage for a few more days because doctors have to repair her broken jaw. Then she'll most likely come back to Salt Lake, where she'll probably have additional surgery.
Alaska state troopers say they don't know why the bear attacked, and they haven't been able to find it yet.
E-mail: kmccord@ksl.com
E-mail: pmchardy@ksl.com
