A YOUNG wrestler who was mauled by a savage 500lb grizzly bear has revealed how he was seconds from death.
Kendell Cummings, 23, felt like “a snack” after having chunks ripped from his face in an encounter with a female grizzly in the Wyoming wilderness.
Kendell heroically stood up to the beast after it started to attack his close friend and wrestling partner Brady Lowry in 2023.
After trying to drive the huge animal away from his helpless pal with rocks and sticks Kendell chose to fight it with his bare hands.
Kendell told The Sun: “While he was being attacked, I was kind of shouting and yelling at the bear, telling her to leave.
“I was throwing rocks, throwing sticks and eventually I hopped down from where I was and grabbed the bear to pull her off of Brady.
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“But then the bear started to attack me, it charged at me, pushed me up into the trees with his head and started attacking my arms and legs.
“And then, for whatever reason, she just quit and run off as I think he was spooked as it was so chaotic.”
Kendell was left lying on the ground in a bloodied heap as the bear darted away into the woods near to Yellowstone.
As the wounded wrestler was returning to his feet, he was suddenly tossed violently back across the dirty path.
“As he ran off, I shouted out to Brady to see where he was and if he was alright but I didn’t hear back,” Kendell said.
“Then the bear came back and attacked me again and got a hold of my head.”
A brutal two-minute assault followed with Kendell left with gaping wounds to his head which was crushed by the grizzly’s jaw.
His arms and legs were also shredded by the bear’s razor claws and savage teeth.
Fearing he was seconds away from death, Kendell desperately battled to stay conscious.
He then felt his limp body drop to the ground.
An amazed Kendell explained: “The bear just scooped some dirt on top of me and wandered off.
“He thought I was dead and he was saving me for a snack for later.”
The Wyoming lad knew he had only one chance of surviving with the bear set to come back at any moment – escape fast.
To make matters worse, Kendell and Brady were still stuck high up in the mountains all alone with the adrenaline quickly starting to wear off.
By this point both the men’s injuries were starting to take their toll with Kendell not even being able to walk.
He bravely stayed conscious and started crawling down the mountain for over a quarter mile – leaving behind a trail of blood.
After some time, they miraculously spotted two of their friends.
The pair helped to carry Kendell and Brady to the main road where they were picked up and driven to a nearby ranch.
They were then airlifted to a hospital in Billings, Montana for emergency surgery.
After a gruelling week of operations, Kendell was left covered in bandages but alive.
“It was a whole lot of emotions all at once. I was surprised and spooked but I didn’t really know my exact thoughts,” he recalled after waking up.
Kendell’s recovery was tough both physically and mentally.
He said: “The physical part was kind of the easier part but it was still hard and it took like a month to recover out of hospital.
“But mentally I still have bad dreams and I get super spooked in the woods whenever I’m out and about.”
World’s most horrific bear attacks
BEARS have a rather loveable image thanks to many children having a soft teddy bear to cuddle at night but the reality can be very different.
While bear attacks on humans are relatively rare they can be particularly vicious, with the powerful animals able to smash skulls, pulp faces and skin their victims alive.
Double mauling
Todd Orr managed to survive not one but two savage maulings while he was out hiking in Montana in October 2016.
Orr came across an irate mummy bear who launched an attack to protect her two cubs.
He was left with a bloody face, damaged shoulder and needed eight hours of stitching to sort out his injuries.
Ranch attack
Allena Hansen was mauled by a black bear on her ranch in the Sequoia Mountains, California, in 2008.
In the brutal attack she lost her nose, ears and 14 teeth.
Hansen told the Independent: “When the bear attacked me it just grabbed me by the ears and bit into my face and took me down.
“So basically my face was ripped off.”
Skinned alive
Russian soldier Alexey Ivanovsky, 36, was reportedly “skinned alive” by a mother bear protecting her two cubs in October 2019.
Alexey was collecting crabs in the remote Kuril islands in eastern Russia when he was cornered by a “group” of brown bears including cubs in a pincer movement, according to reports.
It was an adult female that attacked him, clasping his leg in its teeth and clawing off his skin while trying to drag him away.
Face ripped off
Paramedic Wes Perkins, from Alaska, is lucky to be alive after going out on a bear hunt with two pals.
The tables were turned though when an 8ft grizzly bear attacked, ripping Perkins’ entire face off.
Doctors had to use part of his fibula to create a jaw to replace what the bear ripped off of his face.
Sensationally, both men were even back on the wrestling mat within a few months of being attacked.
“When I recovered I was actually able to get back on the mat with Brady that same year, me and him as wrestling partners.”
Brady was even able to All-American – a term used to describe college wrestlers who are deemed as the top in their year and weight group across the US.
Kendell looks back at the attack today well aware of how lucky he and his close friend were on that fateful day.
He said: “I think I made the right choice and did the right thing.
“We’re all still alive and we’re all OK. We all got to wrestle and
I think that’s that’s as much as I could ask for.
“I’m just super grateful that we’re both still able to tell the story.”
Kendell was later honoured for his heroics with the Carnegie Hero Fund.
It is considered to be the highest civilian honour for heroism in North America and recognises those who risk their own lives to save others.
