Canadian Jogger Viciously Attacked by Grizzly Bear Survives Thanks to Dog & Hair Clip

A Canadian woman says she felt "like a ragdoll" during a Grizzly bear attack that happened while jogging with her dog Luna. Twenty-four-year-old mom Vanessa Chaput was lucky that she managed to escape the incident with her life. But she credits her survival to her dog Luna and things going just a little bit right.

Chaput and Luna were runnning on the Trans Canada Trail at about 10:30 pm when the scary incident happened.

Speaking with TODAY, the mom of a 2-year-old girl admitted she was "in the wrong place at the wrong time."

Related: Grizzly Bear Approaches Moose Calves and Mama Comes to Their Rescue

It was a trail that the mom knew well, she told the news outlet. It runs beside the highway and residential homes. The sun had only recently set too, meaning that the mom could see what was ahead of her. Unfortunately at one point all she saw was trouble.

“I spotted the male [bear] that would attack me first ... and two smaller bears about 10 feet away from me,” she recalled. “There was also a fourth, smaller bear right behind me, which I didn’t see.”

It was a scary situation for even the most experienced runner. So Chaput backed away, pulling Luna's short leash with her. The German Shepherd wasn't ready to back down, however. Instead Luna went on the defense. She broke free from her owner and chased two of the bears away.

Unfortunately, that left Chaput to face a lone male bear alone. There was a fourth bear, but she was unclear where it was at the time of the attack.

Chaput said she walked backwards while facing the animal as she attempted to flee. But then the animal charged.

“I picked a tree to get behind but the bear took me down ... it took my head in its mouth and I ended up on the ground,” she recalled. It seemed like she was doomed.

"You feel like a rag doll and there’s nothing you can do," she said, "I remember being thrown around."

The mom said she has a "pretty (high) pain tolerance," and doesn't remember screaming or feeling pain. But she does remember going into "survival mode" so she could go home to her little girl.

The bear clawed at her back and thighs leaving deep cuts and bruises. In total the attack lasted five minutes, and Chaput believes it only ended because her hair clip exploded in the animal's mouth. It was also possible that the animal was startled by branches breaking beneath her, she reasoned.

At one point, it almost seemed like the animal was going to come back for a second round. But thankfully Luna's barking in the distance seemed to scare the bear away for good.

"Her barking saved my life," Chaput said. She then used her Apple Watch to call her husband for help. The mom was hospitalized for 10 days and received more than 30 stitches on her head, back, arm, and ear. Her arm was broken from the attack and she lost blood, but she didn't need a transfusion, she explained.

The mom said she won't be running anytime soon, but is grateful for surviving the unthinkable.

"I am very shocked at how lucky I am," Chaput remarked. "I’m extremely thankful that God was watching over me that day."

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