12-year-old Abby Wetherell was running on a trail in Cadillac, Michigan when she was attacked and mauled by a black bear.
Abby decided to play dead after the several hundred-pound bear attacked for a second time, saving her life. When the bear finally retreated into the woods, she was able to run back to her grandparents' house for help.
Abby escaped with scrapes all over her face as well as deep scrapes and wounds on her thighs and back, requiring over 100 stiches. As of Friday, her condition was stable.
“I was thinking, this is it, I am a goner," Abby told ABC's Good Morning America.
The seventh-grader further recalls the experience, "When the bear was attacking me, I couldn't feel it, I was just numb. I don't know how or why but my whole body went numb and when I started getting up it hurt bad."
It is unknown why the bear attacked Abby, according to USA Today, since there is no evidence of cubs in that area and Abby did nothing to provoke the bear. Even stranger, bear attacks are rare in Michigan. A search for the bear is underway so that tests for rabies and other diseases can be procured.
But Abby's case isn't too out-of-the-ordinary – she is one of at least six people attacked by bears in five different states last week. This year seems to be special too, as 64 percent more bear attacks have occurred in Yellowstone Park alone this year than last year. Bear attack numbers have been increasing across the nation as well.
Image courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
