Jessica Gamboa : Woman ‘played dead’ in bear attack

A Sacramento woman says she was attacked by a bear while jogging around an Anchorage, Alaska Army base, and played dead to stop it.

Jessica Gamboa said she went on a jog with her husband, who is stationed at the base, to break in some new shoes when they became separated. She saw some cubs and says she was suddenly face to face with a large grizzly, the cubs’ mother.

The Army on Thursday released the interview of Gamboa and a combat medic who rescued her after the mauling, according to the AP. The mauling left her with lacerations to her neck, arms and legs, and neck fractures.

The woman likely survived the Sunday attack by playing dead, said Jim Hart, spokesman for Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Anchorage, the AP reported.

“It’s amazing for her to be able to walk that far in spite of her injuries,” Hart said, according to the AP. “It’s pretty heroic.”

The bear, was with two young and was likely protecting its young, will be left in peace, although the area where the attack occurred will be temporarily closed off, the AP reported.

“The bear did what bears do,” Hart said, according to the AP. “She did what she was supposed to. She just lay still.”

Agencies/Canadajournal