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Hunter, 70, mauled by grizzly
bear Helen Plischke and Frank Luba The Province Tuesday, September 5, 2000 Max Tylee has hunted and trapped almost all his 70 years, but not even his bush smarts could keep him safe from a rampaging grizzly. Tylee was rushed to Royal Columbian Hospital in New Westminster Sunday with critical head wounds after he was mauled by a grizzly bear not far from the McLeod Lake reserve, near Mackenzie in northern B.C. "The skin (on his head) was pulled back and the forehead was pulled back over his eyes," said Tylee's son-in-law, Alec Chingee. It's suspected the grizzly's teeth punctured Tylee's skull. The elderly man also had teeth marks on his hands and ear. The attack happened when Tylee and his wife, Josie, 63, went moose hunting Sunday afternoon along the Phillips Forest service road. They stopped near the 16-kilometre mark, where Max left the truck and walked into the bush, said his daughter, Georgina Chingee, 46. When Josie, waiting in the truck, heard Max yelling, she grabbed their rifle and headed for the bush. "I looked back for him and he wasn't there," said Josie after arriving at Vancouver International Airport late last night. "I kept calling for him . . . The grizzly bear came out and ran toward me. I hightailed it back to the truck." When the bear left, she called: "Honey, honey, where are you? But it was totally silent." Josie sped down the logging road for help but 90 minutes passed before she could return with help. Tylee was lying on the road and the bear was gone. Family members flew to Vancouver yesterday to be near Tylee while other relatives and friends were praying for the best. Tylee battled prostate cancer five years ago and made a full recovery, Georgina said. "He beat that, too. He's a fighter. We're hoping he'll be a survivor again today." Conservation officers searched for the bear yesterday |
