A courageous mother who survived a grizzly bear attack while jogging credits her 2-year-old daughter as her inspiration to stay alive.
"I was in the wrong place at the wrong time," shares Vanessa Chaput, 24, from Yukon, Canada.
On June 30, Chaput was jogging with her German Shepherd, Luna, on a paved trail between Haines Junction and Pine Lake Campground in Ontario, Canada. Familiar with the route that runs alongside a highway near residential homes, she didn’t expect danger to be lurking so close. It was 10:30 p.m., and although the sun had just set, visibility was still clear as Chaput rounded a corner and faced a terrifying sight.
She was suddenly confronted by three bears.
"I spotted the male that would attack me first and two smaller bears about 10 feet away," she recalls. "There was also a fourth, smaller bear behind me that I hadn’t noticed."
Chaput tried to back away, pulling on Luna’s short leash, but her protective dog, who often scares off bears that wander into their Haines Junction yard, immediately went into defense mode. Luna broke free from Chaput and chased the two smaller bears away, leaving Chaput alone with the male bear. The position of the fourth bear at that moment remains unclear.
As Chaput continued to retreat, the larger bear charged.
"I tried to get behind a tree, but the bear took me down... it grabbed my head in its mouth, and I ended up on the ground," she describes.
Chaput found herself in a struggle with the bear on the ground.
"You feel helpless, like a rag doll, with nothing you can do," she says, adding, "I remember being tossed around."
Surprisingly, Chaput didn’t scream or feel intense pain during the attack.
Vanessa Chaput’s German Shepard Luna likely scared away a bear that attacked her. Courtesy Vanessa Chaput
"My adrenaline was pumping... there was an overwhelming amount of pressure," she explains. "I have a pretty high pain tolerance."
The bear’s claws dug into her skin near her spine and scratched her thighs while it bit her arm. Chaput’s thoughts turned to her family.
"I just thought, 'I’m not ready to leave my daughter and husband,'" she says. "That’s when I went into survival mode."
The attack, which Chaput estimates lasted about five minutes, ended when the bear suddenly released her head and ran off. She believes the bear may have been startled by her hair clip snapping in its mouth or by the sound of breaking branches beneath them. Later, Chaput would find and expel pieces of branch lodged in her throat.
Hiding behind a tree, Chaput made herself as small and still as possible, but the bear wasn’t done.
"He charged across the path, turned around, and came back at me," she recalls, thinking, "I didn’t think I could handle another attack."
It was then that Luna’s distant barking may have saved her life. The bear, distracted by the noise, slapped the ground with its paw and ran off toward the sound.
"Luna’s barking saved my life," says Chaput. She speculates that her dog’s fierce bark scared off the smaller bears, as they didn’t attack Luna.
Vanessa Chaput, 24, of Yukon, Canada, recovered in the hospital after a grizzly bear attack that required more than 30 stitches.Courtesy Dave Leegstra
Chaput slowly made her way to the Alaska Highway, where she reunited with Luna, who was unharmed.
Using her Apple Watch, Chaput called her husband, Dave Leegstra, and 911. She spent 10 days in the hospital, receiving over 30 stitches on her head, back, arm, and ear. She also suffered a broken arm, still in a cast, and lost a significant amount of blood, though not enough to require a transfusion.
Eight days later, Chaput was finally reunited with her daughter. Leegstra explained to their little girl, "Mommy had an owie."
The Yukon Conservation Officer Services later posted on Facebook: “Conservation officers responded to a report of a serious bear incident on the Trans Canada Trail connecting Pine Lake to Haines Junction around 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, June 30.”
According to the post, Chaput’s dog had triggered "a defensive reaction" from the bear, leading to the attack that resulted in significant injuries. The post also suggested that Luna’s actions may have caused the bear to break off the attack, giving Chaput the chance to escape and call for help.
A responding conservation officer later euthanized a bear at the exact location of the attack. After receiving information that multiple bears were involved, the nearby campground was evacuated and closed for public safety. Three additional bears matching the description were located, and two were euthanized. Authorities are still searching for the fourth bear.
Necropsies are being conducted on the bears to analyze their ages, sexes, and genetic relationships. DNA and forensic samples are being sent to a lab in Alberta to help identify the bear that attacked Chaput and to understand the dynamics among the group.
The Yukon government directs the public to a tip sheet on bear safety, emphasizing that bear encounters rarely result in attacks and that remaining calm is crucial.
While Chaput isn’t ready to return to the running trail, she recently visited the site of the attack with an armed conservation officer and her family, including Luna, to process the traumatic event.
"I’m incredibly shocked at how lucky I am," she reflects. "I’m deeply grateful that God was watching over me that day."