A 65-year-old man is thanking an old friend for saving him from a near-fatal bear attack late Tuesday in a remote region of northern Ontario.
Gord Shurvell recalled his harrowing ordeal to CTV Winnipeg on Wednesday, revealing that the black bear came at him while he was inside an outhouse near a camping site about an hour north of Sioux Lookout, Ont.
Shurvell initially tried to shoo the animal away, but that's when things went awry and the bear forced its way inside the small wooden loo.
"He had a hold of the shoulder and then went for my neck," said Shurvell, adding that the animal then dragged him outside.
"I knew he meant business then."
As the attack progressed, Shurvell feared for his life.
"He had me and was dragging me in the bush," he told CTV Winnipeg's Caroline Barghout.
Shurvell tried to get free, but all he could do was call for help and hope that someone would hear him.
Thankfully, his old friend Danny Alexander was nearby, getting ready for a day of fishing when he heard the commotion.
The 63-year-old wasn't sure who was yelling, but he knew that they were in trouble.
"I'm going out the door and down the steps and something hit my mind that it's a damn bear," he said.
After grabbing a rifle, Alexander then followed the sound of the yelling into the wooded area and found his friend of 55 years at the mercy of the wild animal.
"I could see Gord's head," said Alexander, who decided against taking a shot at the bear because of the risk to his friend.
"So just as I moved over, the bear dropped Gordie and turned around and looked at me, and that was the best thing that ever happened."
Alexander pulled the trigger and the bear was dead.
Shurvell needed 12 stitches in his head, and he has claw marks on his back and bites on his shoulder.
But he survived, thanks to Alexander.
"Now I owe him," said Shurvell of his pal. "But I'm gonna call him 'Sure-Shot.' That's his nickname."
Of himself, he said his new name is "Bear Bait."
With a report from CTV Winnipeg
