A Canadian man cycling down a paved trailway in Vancouver suffered serious injuries when he T-boned a black bear and went flying through the air.
Kevin Milner was riding in the Lower Seymour Conservation Reserve around 8:30 on Tuesday night when the rounded a corner and saw the bear, as reported by North Shore News.
Milner told CBC News he had “a split-second decision to either slam on the brakes and stop right next to him or I could just keep riding a second or two and I’ve already passed him.”
Unfortunately, he and the bear decided to go the same direction.
“The second I made that decision [to ride around the bear], he decided to run and he ran right across the road, right in front of me and I smashed into him right behind his shoulder blade,” Milner told North Shore News. “I did a flip over him. I pretty much kissed the bear and then I guess I flew through the air.”
Milner, who landed on his side, suffered a fractured scapula, cardiac contusion, bruised ribs, road rash and numbness.
Also on FTW Outdoors: Safari guide attacked by crocodile makes life-saving escape
Other cyclists happened by to help. Two young women rode to where there was cell service to call 911 while a man stayed with Milner.
After 15 minutes, the bear returned.
“Man, those bears are built like a truck,” Milner told North Shore News. “I thought I was going to die.”
The man attempted to scare the bear off, but it “was kind of looking at me, really curious, kind of like, ‘What’s up with you?’” Milner said. “Then the bear just started eating grass. He pretty much just carried on with his day.”
Spitting up blood and unable to walk or even lift his leg, Milner persuaded the bystander to borrow his e-bike, and he rode himself to the forest entrance, where paramedics met him and took him to Lions Gate Hospital.
“The reason I rode in the demonstration forest is just to get away from the traffic, right?” he told North Shore News. “But after hitting the bear, I mean, it’s probably safer just riding with cars.”
Generic photo courtesy of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
