Woman returns to Churchill after surviving 2013 polar bear attack
'Part of it was like therapy for myself to sort of just get back on the horse after you fall off'
A woman who survived a polar bear attack in Churchill, Man. has returned to live and work in the town, despite almost losing her life there two years ago.
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Manitoban receives Star of Courage for saving woman from polar bear
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Erin Greene, polar bear attack victim, faces $13K in medical bills
Erin Greene was walking home from a Halloween party on Nov. 1, 2013, when a polar bear came racing toward her from around a corner.
"I tried punching the bear in the face so that it would drop me and then I could get away," she said.
The bear had her head in its jaws and lifted her off the ground. It dropped her, and then picked her up by the shoulders, slashing at her belly and legs.
"He took a fair portion of my scalp off, he severed three arteries, he bit off a chunk of my ear," she said, adding it was about four or five minutes before a neighbour with a shovel came and fended off the animal.
Years after the harrowing attack, the Montreal native is back working in Churchill.
"Part of it was like therapy for myself to sort of just get back on the horse after you fall off," she said.
"I figured if I didn't come back right away, I would never come back. And it is a place that's very special to me."
Greene credits those things as being helpful to her recovery, along with rehab, daily yoga and the kindness of people who live in Churchill.
After her surgeries and rehab, she was facing a $14,000 hospital bill. Greene said Churchill residents chipped in to cover it last year.
"I think it's one of the most magnificent, different places in the world. With the northern lights and the animals that live here. It's a pretty spectacular place," she said.
"I don't like walking around in the evenings when I can't see everything. It is still a possibility that bears will be around and I recognize that...but I've chosen to still live here."
Greene said Churchill is "just like any other place" in terms of the possibility of encountering violent situations.
"In other places you have to watch for vehicles and potentially dangerous humans. This is just a different kind of danger," she said.