A California woman survived a bear attack in her Tahoe Vista home: 'He should have killed me'
- A 66-year-old California lady who's battling most cancers survived a bear assault in her Tahoe Vista cabin.
- She sustained a number of critical accidents however is therapeutic shortly and expects to make a full restoration.
- Laurel-Rose von Hoffmann-Curzi hopes that others will hear her story and take preventative measures.
A 66-year-old California lady survived a confrontation with a bear in her Tahoe Vista cabin and is talking out concerning the assault to warn others of the risks that bears current.
Laurel-Rose von Hoffmann-Curzi, a 66-year-old lady from Orinda, California, who's battling stage four lymphoma, was awoken early Saturday morning to the noise of "loud thumping" coming from her kitchen.
A lot to her shock, when she approached the noise, the sunshine from the open freezer shone on a bear who was consuming its method by means of her ice cream provide.
"The minute I acknowledged [the bear] was the minute he in all probability acknowledged that I used to be there," von Hoffman-Curzi informed Insider.
"In a flash, I used to be simply being attacked."
"I could not see what was coming from the place," she continued. "I simply noticed his huge paw because it began to return towards my face and I used to be simply being torn all over the place."
Her piercing screams acquired the bear to again off and awoke her husband and son who have been asleep on the opposite aspect of the home. Because the bear retreated again down the steps to the primary flooring of the home, von Hoffman-Curzi was capable of seize a quilt hanging from the banister and throw it on her attacker.
Earlier than turning its again on von Hoffman-Curzi and her household and letting himself out the entrance door of the cabin, the bear gave them one final look.
"This isn't regular bear conduct," von Hoffman-Curzi defined. "It is uncommon for them to enter occupied homes."
Von Hoffman-Curzi defined that whereas her entrance door was locked, the impasse was not turned on, which made it straightforward for the bear to let himself in. She believes he should have smelled recent avocados — which he ate, too — on the second flooring of her residence, which prompted the break-in.
She sustained a number of accidents, together with a puncture wound in her stomach and a number of gashes on her face, which took a number of layers of sutures to restore.
"It appeared like I used to be dripping blood. My face had been torn up moderately badly," she recalled.
Von Hoffman-Curzi has been diligent about holding all trash and meals outdoors of her house in a bear field as a result of she stated bear sightings within the space have grow to be extra prevalent in recent times. She additionally famous that she had simply arrived the night time earlier than, so there was no recent meals, in addition to the avocados, or trash.
When she and her husband purchased their second residence again in 2004, von Hoffman-Curzi stated she by no means noticed any bears in residential areas.
In the previous few months alone, her neighbors reported a number of situations of bears breaking into automobiles within the neighborhood, although they by no means went into houses earlier than.
Von Hoffman-Curzi stated native authorities have been useful in working diligently to stop this from occurring once more. Virtually instantly, a consultant from the Fish and Wildlife Service was on the scene to take DNA samples from the eaten avocados and to set a bear lure to make sure they will catch the right predator.
The household doesn't really feel protected returning to the cabin till that occurs, although, as a result of, von Hoffman-Curzi stated that when a bear is aware of it could actually enter a house to get meals, it'll do it once more.
The prognosis of her wounds is promising and she or he is therapeutic quickly, however she is totally conscious of the severity of the incident.
"He ought to have killed me," she stated. "It was dumb luck that I wasn't injured worse."
Von Hoffman-Curzi hopes that when others hear her story, they'll take preventative measures to keep away from this occurring to them.
"These are wild animals. Regardless that they arrive shut, they need to be handled as [such]," she stated.
She can also be hopeful the "dangerous bears" within the space shall be eliminated so it turns into safer for residents: "I hope we see this via to capturing this bear."
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