A Canadian hunter who was mauled by a grizzly bear died on Saturday, three weeks after the attack near Fort Steele, British Columbia. Sixty-three-year-old Joe Pendry died of a suspected blood clot, according to the CBC.
“…Dad suffered a complication and went into cardiac arrest, the nurses and doctors did everything they could but unfortunately they were unable to revive him,” wrote Facebook user Janessa Higgerty in a post announcing Pendry’s death.
Pendry had been hunting elk in Canada’s East Kootenay region on Oct. 2 when he crossed paths with a sow and her two cubs. He fought back, eventually managing to call 911 and his son for help. He was transported by helicopter to the hospital and later underwent several surgeries to repair his face and part of his scalp that was torn off. He was also treated for a severed finger and broken bones. Pendry’s family set up a GoFundMe account that raised nearly $20,000 during his hospital stay.
“It was very touch and go,” his wife, Janice Pendry, told CBC News a few days before her husband’s death. “But he’s a tough fighter.”
Because he appeared to be recovering from his injuries, his death came as somewhat of a surprise. He had moved from ICU to the trauma ward and his wife says he was walking and laughing at the hospital the night before he died.
“With heavy hearts and profound sadness, we share the passing of our beloved husband, dad, grandpa, brother and uncle,” wrote a family spokesperson in an email to the Keremeos Review. “After fighting the ultimate fight with remarkable courage and strength, he has now found peace.”
During the bear attack, Pendry managed to fire one shot. The B.C. Conservation Officer Service found a dead grizzly nearby a few days after the attack. DNA evidence confirmed it was the same bear.
“Joey was a man whose spirit reflected the rugged beauty of the outdoors he loved so deeply,” wrote Pendry’s niece Rachel Wells in an email. “A skilled hunter and guide, he found joy and purpose in nature.”
Pendry was not the only elk hunter attacked by a grizzly this month. Celia Easton of Thermopolis, Wyoming, narrowly escaped severe injury when a charging grizzly pulled her boot off her foot. Because it was raining, Easton had been wearing rubber knee-high boots instead of laced hiking boots.
“Here is this big old sow grizzly with her baby about 20 yards away coming right at me,” Easton told Cowboy State Daily. “I was partly under a tree. She was trying to drag me out from under that tree, but then my boot popped off. My foot came free and that bear just swapped ends and ran.”
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Easton has a bruised big toe and a punctured rain boot. The bears involved in that case weren’t injured or captured.
“If that was just the tiniest taste of the power that was in those jaws,” Easton said. “You can only imagine what it would be like if she had really clamped down on me.”
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