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Rudy, thanks for being here. 
Appreciate it, man. 

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Your story is incredible. 
I watched a few episodes of what

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you did online, but only a 
little bit because it was so 

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intriguing. 
I just had to stop because I 

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wanted to hear it from you. 
So start at the beginning. 

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Tell me what's going on. 
So I rent snowmobiles and AT VS 

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and side by sides in Big Sky Mt 
and I'd rented a side by side to

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a father and son throat and we 
could bow season and the dad had

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texted me and said hey we're 
having a little problem with the

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side by side could we trade it 
out with another machine? 

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I said sure. 
So I met up with him that night,

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we swapped machines out and he's
like my son shot a buck 

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yesterday and wounded it and we 
lost the blood trail because I 

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didn't have any snow. 
He's like, you know, anybody 

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that's got a tracking dog that 
we could hire to help us track 

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it down. 
I said no. 

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I said, well, I used to be a 
guide in my young days. 

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I pretty good tracker. 
I could come up tomorrow and 

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help you track. 
And so that was the plan. 

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They were camped up on the 
mountain. 

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So I just texted him when I was 
on my way up the mountain on the

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four Wheeler and I got up to 
where they're side by side was 

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parked and I parked my four 
Wheeler and said I, I'm at the 

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side by side. 
He sent me a pin drop. 

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And I know that country pretty 
well. 

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So I knew it was north of here 
and, and West of there. 

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And, and I, I'm not tech savvy, 
so I don't have a app on my 

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phone that could, I could put 
that pin drop in. 

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It would just guide me right 
there. 

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And, and you know how cell phone
service is, especially texting 

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that doesn't come through all 
the time right right now. 

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So, so I, I text him, yeah, I'm 
at the trail, I'm at the side by

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side. 
Is the pin drop where you shot 

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the deer where you guys are 
camped or, or where you're at or

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where you lost the blood trail? 
And I didn't hear back from him.

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So I started hiking down the one
trail 'cause it's off. 

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The trail that we go up on is 
nothing but a side by side and 

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hiking trail. 
The trail that I hiked down was 

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just a hiking trail period. 
You can only go down there on 

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foot or snowmobiles during the 
snowmobile season. 

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But I got probably a mile down 
that trail and he texts me back,

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he's like, oh, it's better if 
you go down the Ridge instead of

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the trail 'cause then you don't 
have to mess with the Cliff. 

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It's like crap, I'm already past
the first Cliff and there's two 

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cliffs on that ridgeline. 
So I thought, well, I'll just 

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shoot between the two ridges up 
through the trees and then I can

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go one way or the other because 
I texted him back and said which

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Cliff is the first one in the 
cell. 

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Service out there, Yeah, OK. 
That's the one reason we really 

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like that trail is because you 
have cell service for probably 

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3/4 of it. 
But anyhow, I I thought, well, 

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I'll just shoot up through the 
trees and wait for him to text 

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me to tell me whether I'm going 
up the Ridge or down the Ridge 

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from where I'm at. 
I probably got 0500 feet into 

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the trees and I jumped a small 
grizzly bear, probably his first

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year out on his own. 
He was laying down under a tree 

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and took off like a shot. 
That was the first you there was

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multiple grizzly bears. 
You said that was the one that 

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got me. 
Was the second one I saw that 

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day? 
Yeah. 

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So the first one just took off 
and I pulled my 357 out of my 

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holster at that point and had it
in my hand pretty much the rest 

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of the time. 
And that's my dad's old police 

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revolver. 
When they went to 9 mil, he gave

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me his 357 and so I had that in 
my hand. 

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I kind of hiked up the Ridge a 
little bit and I saw some crows 

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circling and heard him 
squawking. 

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So I hiked over to the next 
Ridge and kind of watched the 

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crows and kind of hiked down 
that Ridge a little bit till I 

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came back to the spot where I 
jumped the first bear. 

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Then I got a text from George 
and he said, yeah, the pin drops

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where we lost the blood trail 
and we left our backpacks there.

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So I started shooting up the 
trail. 

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I found the backpacks. 
I text him, hey, I'm at the 

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backpacks. 
He's like, wait right there, 

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I'll send my son over. 
We're only 5 minutes away from 

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you. 
And so I thought, well, I've got

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time for a sip of Gatorade and a
beef jerky and, and I thought to

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myself, at that point, I need to
spend that cylinder 'cause I 

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always keep a dead shell in the 
cylinder that's going to fire 

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next in case my kids or 
grandkids get a hold of my gun. 

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So I I need to spend that just 
in case I need it. 

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Wow. 
And so I spun it and son came 

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and got me went, went over to 
his dad and he was actually 

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sitting just below the Ridge 
where I just walked by, just 

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down in a little clearing by 
some trees looking at the same 

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crows I was looking at. 
And so we're kind of came up 

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with a game plan 'cause we're we
don't really have any tracks to 

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really follow. 
So we're kind of just spread out

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along the hillside thinking that
those crows are probably on his 

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deer, that it probably died 
overnight and they're probably 

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on, on his deer. 
So we just kind of spread out 

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like you see in the movies, 
where we could still see each 

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other but cover more country. 
And we started heading down the 

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hill towards the crows, and we 
got a little ways down the hill 

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and I kind of meandered a little
bit this way and that way. 

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And I was, since I jumped the 
first bear, I was constantly, 

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you know, watching my back trail
because I've been shattered by 

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bears and tracked by mountain 
lions before in my life. 

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So I'm pretty wary. 
I stepped over a log, looked to 

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see where George was, and there 
the bear was, coming at me 

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already. 
He was already charging. 

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Yeah, he was like this coming 
over the the down trees. 

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I didn't hear him growl. 
I didn't hear him roar. 

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I didn't hear him step on 
branches and break him. 

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I just saw him coming at me. 
I lifted my gun up because I 

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already had it in my hand. 
I fired it and it misfired. 

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I spun it right back to that 
dead shell. 

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That's one of the reasons I say,
well, in my opinion, that proves

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to me that this is probably 
meant to be in my life. 

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That, you know, what are the 
odds of me spinning it right 

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back to that dead shell? 
Reverse Russian roulette, I 

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guess. 
Oh my gosh. 

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But the next thing I knew, I it 
misfired and I probably said a 

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few choice words and rolled my 
eyes. 

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I don't know. 
But the next thing I remember is

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his nose was about the same size
as my fist. 

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And that's one of my bare 
strategies is to punch me in the

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nose If if I had to, if it got 
to that, because anybody that's 

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hit a dog in the nose and nose, 
you know, what it does knows it,

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it'll stop for at least a second
of hesitation. 

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So that's always been my 
strategy. 

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And I got a hole here and a hole
there. 

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And I'm assuming that's he got 
me when I tried to punch him. 

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But the next thing I remember 
after the click and the is he 

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had me by the jaw and he picked 
me up by my jaw off the ground 

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and I could see the father 
running towards me. 

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And I in my first edition there 
it says, you know, I yelled help

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me. 
But the more I think about it so

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I I don't think I could have 
said anything like them having a

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hold of my jaw. 
But I know I thought helped me 

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in my mind to me I said help me 
and that at that point the 

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bearer bit down and I could just
hear and feel it breaking my 

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jawbone. 
Oh my gosh. 

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And at that moment, I'm assuming
I don't remember the rest of the

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attack. 
The next thing I remember is he 

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was running away. 
I could just see his butt 

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running away from me. 
Wow. 

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And but he actually clawed my 
chest, collapsed my lung. 

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Oh. 
My gosh. 

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And. 
Then he bit my leg and you can 

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tell he bunched up my muscle 
right there when he bit. 

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And that's the hole hole that 
was bleeding the worst. 

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I knew I was bleeding more out 
of that puncture in my leg than 

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I was out of my jaw, but I'm 
assuming when he broke through 

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my jaw I probably fell to the 
ground. 

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That's when he stepped on my 
chest and bit my leg, and as 

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soon as he left, the father was 
to me within seconds. 

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This was a male Grisby grizzly. 
Probably the second biggest bear

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I've ever seen. 
Oh my gosh, what's was it that 

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you spooked it? 
Well, in in my thinking, it was 

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all the worst circumstances at 
all the right time. 

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If you think about it, that 
little bear that I jumped first 

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is probably only a half mile 
from that Big Bear. 

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And every time that Big Bear was
out looking for more food, that 

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little bear was probably in his 
stash eating. 

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So that's why he took off like a
shot and why the Big Bear came 

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right right now, because, you 
know, he was expecting probably 

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to chase that little bear off 
again. 

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But I tell people all the time, 
there's three reasons a bear 

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will attack you. 
One, they got Cubs they're 

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protecting. 2, they got food 
they're protecting. 

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And three, if you startle them, 
you know, if they're sleeping or

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eating and they don't hear or 
see you coming and you're there,

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they're just going to react. 
And I had two of the three. 

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Oh my gosh. 
And I'm 62, so for me, you know,

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I in the early stories I said he
was mega 10 foot grizzly bear. 

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And you know, I was, I, I call 
it what, what do I call it? 

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Riding while intoxicated or 
under the influence? 

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Because I was on heavy drugs in 
the beginning. 

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But I'm 62 and he picked me up 
off the ground by my jaw. 

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So I figured that puts him at 
least at 7 feet. 

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What what made it run off? 
The father and son. 

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So they the bears there on you 
that it sees them running 

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towards you. 
It freaked. 

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Out they're yelling and 
screaming at it and throwing 

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rocks at it. 
And the father had a gun and he 

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said he shot a couple of times, 
but he didn't know whether it 

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hit it and he was afraid to 
shoot at it or shoot it while it

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had me 'cause it was shaking me 
around like a rag doll. 

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But I, I assume too, once he bit
through my jaw, 'cause I don't 

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remember the other two. 
I was probably pretty much 

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lifeless, so he probably figured
the job was done anyway he could

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come back. 
Did you hear the firing of the 

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the? 
I didn't hear them yelling at 

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it. 
I didn't hear the bear groan. 

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I didn't hear the gunshots. 
I didn't hear anything until 

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George got to me and he's like, 
Rudy, Rudy, are you OK? 

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And he's like, Nope, you're not 
OK. 

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I want to explain why I do these
conversations. 

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Most people know me for 
backpacking, outdoor education, 

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and gear videos actually. 
But what really sits underneath 

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this channel is decision making 
under pressure. 

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A few years ago I nearly died in
the Grand Canyon, and going 

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through that permanently changed
how I think about risk 

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preparation and judgement. 
After my own survival situation,

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I became absolutely obsessed 
with one question. 

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What actually keeps people alive
when everything goes wrong? 

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That's why I talk to people who 
survived the worst moments of 

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their lives, whether it happened
outdoors, on the water, or in 

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places none of us even expect. 
So if you want to see my own 

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story, I've put a link in the 
description to the Grand Canyon 

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survival video, where we had 
cameras filming the entire time.

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It'll give you context for why 
these conversations mean so much

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to me. 
Thanks. 

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So you were like, there's a 
whole moment of this time, of 

207
00:12:26,200 --> 00:12:28,640
this experience that was 
completely like a blackout for 

208
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you. 
And then all of a sudden the 

209
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,960
next thing you remember is. 
The bears running away from. 

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The bears running away and 
you're. 

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Standing. 
You're laying there. 

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Then George got to me and he 
picked up my gun on the way to 

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me and he shot it in the 
direction that the bear. 

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00:12:42,160 --> 00:12:45,440
And that's the first thing I 
remember hearing after the 

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00:12:45,720 --> 00:12:50,440
crunch of my jaw, was him firing
my gun. 

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00:12:50,440 --> 00:12:53,880
I'm sure he picked up my gun 
thinking, man, you had him dead.

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00:12:53,880 --> 00:12:55,360
The rights Why didn't you shoot 
him? 

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00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,480
Wow. 
Because he was probably almost 

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as close as you are to me right 
now when I pulled the trigger. 

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Oh my gosh. 
So he would. 

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00:13:03,320 --> 00:13:05,440
Have looked like me. 
If the gun would have went off 

222
00:13:05,440 --> 00:13:08,920
and I wouldn't have, I probably 
would have been run over by a 

223
00:13:08,920 --> 00:13:13,200
dead bear, but I would have just
been another hunter that shot a 

224
00:13:13,840 --> 00:13:19,920
bear in self-defense. 
Wow, so you're all there. 

225
00:13:20,000 --> 00:13:26,120
What next? 
George's phone had died and his 

226
00:13:26,120 --> 00:13:28,920
son's phone was pretty weak. 
So he asked me if my phone was 

227
00:13:28,920 --> 00:13:30,920
good. 
And I handed him my phone. 

228
00:13:30,920 --> 00:13:36,680
He dialed 911 with my phone. 
And of course, immediately 

229
00:13:36,680 --> 00:13:38,600
they're trying to assess what's 
going on. 

230
00:13:38,600 --> 00:13:40,760
He's like, well, he's, he's not 
in good shape. 

231
00:13:40,760 --> 00:13:45,000
He's, he's missing his jaw. 
And the bear bit him in the face

232
00:13:45,000 --> 00:13:49,800
and neck and, and whatever, and 
they're like, well, can you put 

233
00:13:49,800 --> 00:13:52,680
something around? 
So we took my backpack off and 

234
00:13:52,680 --> 00:13:56,640
my shirt off when we tried 
wrapping it around my neck, and 

235
00:13:57,000 --> 00:13:59,240
I couldn't breathe at all with 
it on. 

236
00:13:59,240 --> 00:14:00,960
So it's like, that wasn't an 
option. 

237
00:14:01,840 --> 00:14:04,520
And they're like, well, we got 
search and rescue on the way. 

238
00:14:06,000 --> 00:14:10,920
And it's kind of funny 'cause 
Big Sky itself is in one county,

239
00:14:11,960 --> 00:14:16,040
but the county that Bozeman's 
in, it's a different county, but

240
00:14:16,040 --> 00:14:20,680
it's closer than it is from the 
head of Madison County. 

241
00:14:20,680 --> 00:14:24,080
So it was easier for them to 
say, hey, Gallant County, send 

242
00:14:24,080 --> 00:14:26,080
somebody up to come rescue this 
guy. 

243
00:14:26,080 --> 00:14:31,080
And they sent helicopters, but 
it took them two hours to get to

244
00:14:31,080 --> 00:14:31,280
me. 
Oh. 

245
00:14:31,360 --> 00:14:34,240
My gosh. 
Oh my gosh. 

246
00:14:34,640 --> 00:14:38,600
And I was conscious the whole 
time. 

247
00:14:38,640 --> 00:14:42,120
In fact, at one point I thought 
to myself, 'cause the only way I

248
00:14:42,120 --> 00:14:46,720
was comfortable was laying on my
stomach with my arms under me to

249
00:14:46,720 --> 00:14:50,160
keep my head out of the dirt. 
So that was the easiest for me 

250
00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:53,800
to bravely start with me leaning
up against a tree and all the 

251
00:14:53,800 --> 00:14:56,080
blood was going down my throat 
and choking me. 

252
00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:00,080
So that was the easiest for me 
to do is just lay on my stomach,

253
00:15:00,080 --> 00:15:03,360
put my arms up under me. 
I was getting a little weak, I 

254
00:15:03,360 --> 00:15:07,560
could tell, so I pulled my 
backpack so I could put my head 

255
00:15:07,560 --> 00:15:10,680
on my backpack and lay my head 
on my backpack so I didn't have 

256
00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:15,000
to hold myself up anymore. 
Like I said, I I knew I was 

257
00:15:15,000 --> 00:15:17,640
bleeding more out of the hole in
my leg than I was out of my 

258
00:15:17,640 --> 00:15:22,680
chin, but I couldn't say 
anything and I was too late to 

259
00:15:22,680 --> 00:15:25,520
pull my belt out to do my own 
tourniquet on my leg. 

260
00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,280
Oh my gosh, did they put a 
tourniquet on you? 

261
00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:34,440
Not until I got to the well, I 
think when the search and rescue

262
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:38,280
got to me, that when they 
assessed and saw that my leg was

263
00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:43,320
socially blood on my pants, that
they, they investigated that and

264
00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:46,240
it's like, yeah, I think that 
was one of the first things they

265
00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:49,400
did was tied up my legs, so. 
Father and son didn't realize 

266
00:15:49,400 --> 00:15:51,000
that the leg was bleeding enough
to tie it. 

267
00:15:51,000 --> 00:15:54,600
I don't think they knew it. 
I don't know. 

268
00:15:55,000 --> 00:15:59,360
I don't have any of my clothes. 
I knew they cut the pant leg off

269
00:15:59,360 --> 00:16:04,560
at at the Yellowstone Club but I
don't know how bad my shirt was 

270
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:09,040
ripped or anything like that 
from the Clomite or the scratch 

271
00:16:09,040 --> 00:16:11,640
on my chest. 
I don't I don't know what I 

272
00:16:11,640 --> 00:16:15,480
looked like. 
All's I know is I could see skin

273
00:16:16,000 --> 00:16:19,000
hanging down from my face 
dripping blood. 

274
00:16:19,280 --> 00:16:24,600
Oh man. 
And it was. 

275
00:16:25,360 --> 00:16:28,360
It perked me up a little bit 
when the first helicopter flew 

276
00:16:28,360 --> 00:16:32,120
over and I lifted my head up and
I thought, you know, I'm going 

277
00:16:32,120 --> 00:16:34,800
to be OK. 
And George is running around. 

278
00:16:34,800 --> 00:16:37,840
He's like, we're right here, 
we're right here, land, we're 

279
00:16:37,840 --> 00:16:45,640
right here. 
And Lifelight helicopter, 

280
00:16:45,640 --> 00:16:48,400
medical helicopter, was the 
first one on the scene. 

281
00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:52,760
And they were told they couldn't
land because they didn't want 

282
00:16:52,760 --> 00:16:55,400
them landing in a hostile 
environment and have a bear 

283
00:16:55,400 --> 00:16:57,960
attack. 
More people, you know, and 

284
00:16:57,960 --> 00:17:01,120
that's something I'm trying to 
get changed is, you know, if 

285
00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:04,079
there's guns on the ground or 
they need to have a gun in the 

286
00:17:04,079 --> 00:17:08,119
helicopter, if they're going in 
that kind of situation that, you

287
00:17:08,119 --> 00:17:09,640
know, they can protect 
themselves. 

288
00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:13,800
And 'cause, you know, they were 
there probably 15 minutes to 1/2

289
00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:16,400
hour before the search and 
rescue guys got there, that 

290
00:17:16,400 --> 00:17:18,599
we're all loaded up with guns 
and everything. 

291
00:17:19,599 --> 00:17:23,880
And so that half hour could have
been the saving grace or the 

292
00:17:24,240 --> 00:17:26,280
demise of me. 
You know, oh man. 

293
00:17:27,440 --> 00:17:29,920
But once I heard that 
helicopter, it perked me back 

294
00:17:29,920 --> 00:17:33,920
up. 
And then then I heard them take 

295
00:17:33,920 --> 00:17:36,400
off once the second helicopter 
got there. 

296
00:17:37,400 --> 00:17:40,800
And I lifted my head up and I 
could see the helicopter flying 

297
00:17:40,800 --> 00:17:47,440
in a clearing just next to me. 
And the next thing I saw was 

298
00:17:47,440 --> 00:17:49,320
boots on the ground coming 
towards me. 

299
00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:53,200
And I knew I'd be OK then. 
And I never thought at any point

300
00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,000
that I was going to die. 
I just, I don't know, the 

301
00:17:56,000 --> 00:17:59,400
thought never entered my mind 
that this is it for me. 

302
00:17:59,400 --> 00:18:02,240
I really won't see my family 
again or nothing. 

303
00:18:02,240 --> 00:18:10,520
I just, I knew it wasn't good, 
but I I didn't think I was ever 

304
00:18:10,520 --> 00:18:15,120
going to die. 
But that's one of the weird 

305
00:18:15,400 --> 00:18:18,040
things too, you know, the guy 
gets to me. 

306
00:18:18,440 --> 00:18:21,240
He's like, well, Rudy, you're 
doing OK, you're still with me. 

307
00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:26,400
And I gave him the thumbs up and
and he's like, well, we're going

308
00:18:26,400 --> 00:18:28,720
to do the best to get you out of
here and we're going to check 

309
00:18:28,720 --> 00:18:30,240
you over. 
We're going to get the basket 

310
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:31,960
over here, get you in the 
basket. 

311
00:18:31,960 --> 00:18:34,640
We're going to clean a trail 
over to the helicopter so we 

312
00:18:34,640 --> 00:18:39,400
don't stumble and trip with you.
And then we'll get you out of 

313
00:18:39,400 --> 00:18:41,480
here. 
OK, Gave him the thumbs up. 

314
00:18:42,280 --> 00:18:46,800
And one of the pictures that you
see online is that helicopter 

315
00:18:46,800 --> 00:18:51,360
flying, and it's kind of 
deceiving because there's a dead

316
00:18:51,360 --> 00:18:53,400
tree right there. 
So it kind of looks like there's

317
00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:55,200
a line there. 
But if you look over, there's a 

318
00:18:55,200 --> 00:18:57,680
line there. 
And if you zoom in on the 

319
00:18:57,680 --> 00:19:02,600
picture, you'll see the basket. 
So I flew in the basket hanging 

320
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:04,680
from the rope to the Yellowstone
Club. 

321
00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:08,040
Oh my gosh, how far was that? 
It was only a few minutes. 

322
00:19:08,520 --> 00:19:13,040
So yeah, you can spit almost 
that far to the Yellowstone Club

323
00:19:13,040 --> 00:19:14,360
as the crow flies. 
But. 

324
00:19:14,960 --> 00:19:18,880
But yeah, it's like, and if you 
look closely, you'll see a guy 

325
00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:24,520
perched on that basket with me, 
riding with me, making sure I 

326
00:19:24,520 --> 00:19:27,240
was OK the whole way there. 
And then we get to the 

327
00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,240
Yellowstone Club and they flew 
me there because that was where 

328
00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:35,320
the closest trauma nurse was. 
And so they got me there and 

329
00:19:35,600 --> 00:19:40,080
they cut my pant leg off and, 
and checked me out and gave me 

330
00:19:40,080 --> 00:19:43,800
some drugs and, and the last 
thing I remember was I was 

331
00:19:43,800 --> 00:19:46,920
reaching in my pocket trying to 
get my truck keys out so I could

332
00:19:46,920 --> 00:19:49,040
hand it to somebody. 
And I still don't know where my 

333
00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:52,480
truck keys are, but that's the 
last thing I remember. 

334
00:19:52,480 --> 00:19:57,800
The drug kicked in and, and I 
was, I knew I would say. 

335
00:19:57,800 --> 00:20:01,680
So I figured I'd, I'd just, I, 
I, I can relax now. 

336
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:04,440
And the next thing I know, I 
woke up in. 

337
00:20:04,920 --> 00:20:08,480
Salt Lake, I don't even remember
them flying me to Bozeman. 

338
00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:11,160
They flew me to Bozeman 
Hospital. 

339
00:20:11,160 --> 00:20:16,360
They cleaned all my wounds, 
cleaned my mouth and jaw out as 

340
00:20:16,360 --> 00:20:18,720
best they could. 
They did a trach tube, a chest 

341
00:20:18,720 --> 00:20:22,400
tube and some other things at 
the Bozeman hospital. 

342
00:20:22,400 --> 00:20:26,400
And then they they knew they 
weren't equipped to handle this 

343
00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,960
kind of reconstruction surgery, 
so they flew me to Salt Lake, to

344
00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:36,240
the University of Utah Hospital.
Wow, Have you spoken to the 

345
00:20:36,240 --> 00:20:39,200
father and son? 
I'd text him quite a bit. 

346
00:20:39,240 --> 00:20:45,120
You still took today. 
Yeah, and I'm trying to get an 

347
00:20:45,120 --> 00:20:50,640
interview with them at some 
point so that, you know, and I 

348
00:20:50,640 --> 00:20:54,360
want to get a, an interview with
the search and rescue and the 

349
00:20:54,360 --> 00:20:58,760
hospital people to thank them 
all, you know, but it's hard to 

350
00:20:58,760 --> 00:21:01,920
get everybody together. 
Yeah, yeah. 

351
00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:04,520
It's tough. 
So what is this here on the 

352
00:21:04,520 --> 00:21:07,960
table? 
So that's a mold that they did 

353
00:21:07,960 --> 00:21:12,760
of my jaw, what was left of my 
jaw after the bear bit it off. 

354
00:21:13,800 --> 00:21:16,400
And if you look at the lines 
there, that's where they cut my 

355
00:21:16,400 --> 00:21:21,360
jawbone off so they could have a
clean, clean edge. 

356
00:21:21,440 --> 00:21:25,480
And I, I believe, I don't know 
if that's nerves or what's in 

357
00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,560
the jawbone that they had to get
to what was clean. 

358
00:21:29,200 --> 00:21:31,640
Oh man. 
And so basically I got one tooth

359
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:35,880
there, one tooth there, and the 
rest of it's all part of my 

360
00:21:36,200 --> 00:21:39,880
lower bone leg. 
Yeah, I they so they took part 

361
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:41,400
of your bone and your leg, 
right? 

362
00:21:41,400 --> 00:21:43,360
Yeah, the small bone in my left 
leg. 

363
00:21:44,200 --> 00:21:47,680
So walk me through this whole 
next portion of the story, 

364
00:21:47,680 --> 00:21:50,080
because I've heard it's pretty 
extraordinary. 

365
00:21:50,720 --> 00:21:54,560
It's. 
They told we did that interview 

366
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:58,400
when I first left the hospital. 
I was in the hospital for like 5

367
00:21:58,400 --> 00:22:03,720
weeks and we did an interview at
that point, a press conference 

368
00:22:04,280 --> 00:22:09,880
and I didn't talk very well. 
I, I think I said hello at that 

369
00:22:09,880 --> 00:22:12,280
interview and the rest. 
I was writing on the whiteboard 

370
00:22:12,280 --> 00:22:13,760
and my daughters were reading 
it. 

371
00:22:15,840 --> 00:22:19,200
But I walked like an old man, 
you know, crouched over like Tim

372
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:21,320
Conway doing the old man 
shuffle. 

373
00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:28,800
And, and then once I got my lip 
and teeth, we did another 

374
00:22:29,120 --> 00:22:33,520
interview press conference and 
and that's when I learned that 

375
00:22:34,040 --> 00:22:37,880
this was the first time they did
this operation all in one day. 

376
00:22:38,600 --> 00:22:46,400
So they take the bone out of 
your leg and piece it together 

377
00:22:46,400 --> 00:22:49,880
in three pieces to form your 
chin bone. 

378
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:54,800
And then they cut the skin and 
the muscle there that was 

379
00:22:54,800 --> 00:23:00,600
probably about that deep. 
They cut in to get my chin skin.

380
00:23:02,560 --> 00:23:09,080
And this was the first time that
they they actually put the post 

381
00:23:09,080 --> 00:23:13,520
for my teeth in the bone while 
it was still in my leg. 

382
00:23:13,520 --> 00:23:17,320
And I think one of the reasons 
they had a lot of problem, if 

383
00:23:17,320 --> 00:23:21,920
you look at at this, these teeth
are bent over like this. 

384
00:23:21,920 --> 00:23:29,000
So I bent my jawbone over so the
back of that tooth ends up at 

385
00:23:29,000 --> 00:23:32,160
the front of that tooth. 
So those this side of my teeth 

386
00:23:32,160 --> 00:23:34,640
don't even line up. 
Wow. 

387
00:23:34,640 --> 00:23:37,480
So I can chew really good on 
that one tooth on the back 

388
00:23:37,480 --> 00:23:39,400
there. 
I was not. 

389
00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:42,200
I wasn't expecting you to be 
able to take that off. 

390
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:45,720
So is that magnetic? 
It's a pretty good Hardy trick, 

391
00:23:45,720 --> 00:23:48,520
isn't it? 
I could have. 

392
00:23:48,560 --> 00:23:50,720
Not expecting that. 
I get that a lot. 

393
00:23:51,360 --> 00:23:53,400
Oh, I could officially give you 
some lip. 

394
00:23:54,320 --> 00:23:56,840
Yeah. 
So it's just wow, they. 

395
00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,880
Did a phenomenal job. 
Magnets on the hate teeth. 

396
00:24:04,160 --> 00:24:07,560
Wow. 
But if you look at it, this was 

397
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,880
done in March, not he matched my
skin tone in March. 

398
00:24:10,880 --> 00:24:14,520
But you know, after the summer 
and motorcycle riding and 

399
00:24:14,520 --> 00:24:17,040
everything, my face is a lot 
darker than my chin. 

400
00:24:17,040 --> 00:24:20,000
So people look at me and think 
there's something different 

401
00:24:20,000 --> 00:24:23,240
about you, but they don't quite 
put it together until they do 

402
00:24:23,240 --> 00:24:25,680
that and. 
They're like it is. 

403
00:24:26,280 --> 00:24:29,400
You look phenomenal. 
I I, I can't believe. 

404
00:24:29,400 --> 00:24:32,000
It's one of those hairs that he 
painted on my chin. 

405
00:24:32,000 --> 00:24:34,480
He matched and did each one one 
at a time. 

406
00:24:35,480 --> 00:24:38,360
So those are silicone that he 
matched it so. 

407
00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:40,440
You're like, you're like, I got 
a permanent beard now, right? 

408
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:43,800
It was, he's like, well, do you 
want some hair on your chin? 

409
00:24:43,800 --> 00:24:46,400
And I thought, you know, he's 
going to just glue a little 

410
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:50,200
touched of hair under my lip or 
whatever, but no, it was like a 

411
00:24:50,200 --> 00:24:54,160
three day process. 
I came in and he did the mold 

412
00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:58,840
and then he did, did, did the 
thing. 

413
00:24:58,840 --> 00:25:03,080
And then the next third day he 
was matching face matched my lip

414
00:25:03,080 --> 00:25:06,800
collar. 
And you know, I, I don't want to

415
00:25:06,800 --> 00:25:10,760
say this online, but I lost my 
chin twice all riding my 

416
00:25:10,760 --> 00:25:17,960
motorcycle this summer. 
And, and I lost one of the 

417
00:25:18,000 --> 00:25:21,360
magnets out of there and it took
me two days to find another one 

418
00:25:21,360 --> 00:25:23,520
that would fit. 
And it's not the same size and 

419
00:25:23,520 --> 00:25:29,720
it's not the same same. 
So I I got to talk to the VA and

420
00:25:29,720 --> 00:25:31,760
see if they'll approve to make 
another one. 

421
00:25:32,600 --> 00:25:35,840
Wow, VA, if you're listening, 
approve it. 

422
00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:39,440
Well, I, I fought with the VA 
the whole time, Yeah. 

423
00:25:39,920 --> 00:25:42,800
And it's one of those things 
that I would love to get in 

424
00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,360
charge, contact with somebody in
charge. 

425
00:25:46,120 --> 00:25:48,960
Where'd you serve? 
I was, I was stationed in 

426
00:25:48,960 --> 00:25:52,000
Virginia Beach and that's a 
whole nother adventure. 

427
00:25:52,000 --> 00:25:55,120
I worked on F Fourteens. 
I was an aviation electrician, 

428
00:25:55,120 --> 00:25:59,120
so I was on the flight deck 
working on F Fourteens. 

429
00:25:59,120 --> 00:26:02,720
I was in the Navy during the 82 
to 86. 

430
00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:06,640
So we were sitting off the coast
to Rio de Janeiro and Grenada 

431
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:11,040
happened and then the barracks 
in Beirut was bombed. 

432
00:26:11,080 --> 00:26:15,600
So we sat off the coast to Rio 
for like 12 hours for them to 

433
00:26:15,600 --> 00:26:19,720
decide which way we were going. 
And the next thing we know we're

434
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:21,920
headed to the Mediterranean, to 
Beirut. 

435
00:26:22,160 --> 00:26:25,840
We spent six, most of our six 
months cruise off the coast of 

436
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:28,400
Beirut. 
Wow, wow. 

437
00:26:28,840 --> 00:26:32,200
So take me back to the, the 
surgery and everything you're 

438
00:26:32,200 --> 00:26:36,680
experiencing because I, I, you, 
you had to learn to talk again, 

439
00:26:36,680 --> 00:26:39,000
I'm assuming, right? 
Like how to use this to be able 

440
00:26:39,000 --> 00:26:41,520
to make speech. 
You, you sound great. 

441
00:26:42,240 --> 00:26:45,480
And I sound worse once I take 
that off and my teeth off. 

442
00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:50,160
So it's amazing the difference 
just teeth and and the lip will 

443
00:26:50,160 --> 00:26:52,800
make for you. 
Wow. 

444
00:26:53,120 --> 00:26:55,960
I've actually gone to three of 
them casting calls to be on 

445
00:26:55,960 --> 00:26:58,800
Survivor since this happened. 
And the first one, I didn't have

446
00:26:58,800 --> 00:27:01,680
my lip and my teeth, so I 
probably looked pretty scary and

447
00:27:01,680 --> 00:27:05,280
I didn't talk very well. 
But they all said, man, that's a

448
00:27:05,280 --> 00:27:07,120
hell of a story. 
And it's like, yeah, if they 

449
00:27:07,120 --> 00:27:09,240
started getting me on, I don't 
know what I got to do. 

450
00:27:09,400 --> 00:27:13,320
Wow, I, I, I mean, that's 
incredible. 

451
00:27:14,240 --> 00:27:19,080
But yeah, I was in the hospital 
and they gave me a thing to to 

452
00:27:19,960 --> 00:27:23,400
talk out of my trach tube, to 
put on the trach tube to talk. 

453
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:29,440
And I had it long enough to tell
my daughter, I love you. 

454
00:27:29,680 --> 00:27:30,840
Oh wow. 
And then they took. 

455
00:27:30,880 --> 00:27:37,280
It away from me 'cause they 
didn't want me to to stress my 

456
00:27:37,280 --> 00:27:41,520
vocal cords 'cause they still 
weren't sure how bad he got to 

457
00:27:41,520 --> 00:27:44,520
them and if I would even be able
to talk again or not. 

458
00:27:44,520 --> 00:27:45,480
And. 
Oh wow. 

459
00:27:47,280 --> 00:27:51,520
So that was that was a tough 
moment, but but at least I got 

460
00:27:51,520 --> 00:27:53,160
to tell my daughter that I love 
her. 

461
00:27:53,320 --> 00:27:58,200
Yeah. 
And that was another emotional 

462
00:27:58,200 --> 00:28:02,960
time was after George called 911
and got through with them and 

463
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:05,760
got them on their way. 
He's like to have somebody I 

464
00:28:05,760 --> 00:28:09,800
should call. 
And so I held my phone and I 

465
00:28:09,800 --> 00:28:13,600
pointed to my daughter's number,
'cause she only lives like 1/2 

466
00:28:13,600 --> 00:28:16,040
hour from me and she helps me 
with the business. 

467
00:28:16,040 --> 00:28:19,240
She's been answering the phones 
for the business for the last 

468
00:28:19,240 --> 00:28:21,280
three years. 
I usually turn them over to her 

469
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:23,720
during the winter 'cause I get 
too busy to answer while I'm 

470
00:28:23,760 --> 00:28:28,280
snowmobiling. 
And she looked at her phone and 

471
00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,280
said, Dad, boy, this is a weird 
time for him to call. 

472
00:28:31,640 --> 00:28:34,680
She's like, hey, what's up? 
And he's like, yeah, I'm with 

473
00:28:34,680 --> 00:28:39,120
your dad. 
And she's like, oh, no, It's 

474
00:28:39,120 --> 00:28:41,280
like, yeah, he's been attacked 
by a grizzly bear. 

475
00:28:42,200 --> 00:28:47,160
And she's like, is he OK? 
He's like, no, he's not OK. 

476
00:28:47,160 --> 00:28:49,000
He's been attacked by a grizzly 
bear. 

477
00:28:49,560 --> 00:28:53,480
And she's like, is he alive? 
He's like, yeah, he's alive, but

478
00:28:53,480 --> 00:29:01,280
it's not good. 
And she immediately found 

479
00:29:01,280 --> 00:29:04,200
somebody to watch her kids. 
Called my daughter who's a nurse

480
00:29:04,200 --> 00:29:12,440
in California, and my daughter 
in California took emergency 

481
00:29:12,440 --> 00:29:14,640
leave. 
She's a nurse at the hospital 

482
00:29:14,640 --> 00:29:17,880
and hopped on the first plane 
that she'd get to Bozeman. 

483
00:29:17,880 --> 00:29:23,280
And, and by the time she got to 
Bozeman and they were headed to 

484
00:29:23,280 --> 00:29:27,640
the hospital, they heard that 
they were shipping me to Salt 

485
00:29:27,640 --> 00:29:34,760
Lake. 
Wow, did she write this? 

486
00:29:35,360 --> 00:29:37,720
My oldest daughter wrote that, 
yeah, while I was in the 

487
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:41,000
hospital and we gave that to. 
Explain what this is 'cause you 

488
00:29:41,000 --> 00:29:42,360
handed this to me when you when 
you got. 

489
00:29:42,360 --> 00:29:47,160
Here, this is the first edition 
of of the book I'm going to 

490
00:29:47,160 --> 00:29:49,360
start writing. 
I've actually started it. 

491
00:29:49,360 --> 00:29:52,840
I've got to the point where I 
can't remember anything, where I

492
00:29:53,400 --> 00:29:59,040
got to the All Stone Club and 
and I wrote this up because I 

493
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:03,080
thought all those people who are
taking such good care of me in 

494
00:30:03,080 --> 00:30:07,240
the hospital deserve to know my 
story and be the first ones to 

495
00:30:07,240 --> 00:30:10,400
hear my story. 
I'm not out of my mouth. 

496
00:30:10,400 --> 00:30:16,000
But as I saw it and as I 
remembered it, and still that's 

497
00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,400
not quite right. 
I can go through there and say, 

498
00:30:18,400 --> 00:30:21,320
yeah, that's OK, That's not, 
that's OK, that's not. 

499
00:30:22,280 --> 00:30:25,720
But you know, it's just like 
that game you play where you 

500
00:30:25,720 --> 00:30:28,600
whisper something in somebody's 
ear and you go down the line and

501
00:30:28,600 --> 00:30:38,520
it changes all the time, so. 
So your surgery and your jaw was

502
00:30:38,520 --> 00:30:41,520
a really big deal in. 12 hour 
surgery. 

503
00:30:41,520 --> 00:30:44,680
Yeah, it was the first time they
did all this in one day. 

504
00:30:45,560 --> 00:30:52,120
And they asked me multiple 
times, you know, if I was OK 

505
00:30:52,120 --> 00:30:53,920
with it. 
And it was going to be a long 

506
00:30:53,920 --> 00:30:58,440
day and it would be hard on me. 
And you know, I I wasn't even 

507
00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:00,400
getting out of bed at that point
still. 

508
00:31:00,440 --> 00:31:04,200
I was still bedridden. 
I lost 30 lbs while I was in the

509
00:31:04,200 --> 00:31:11,360
hospital. 
But I said, yeah, I'm, I'm 

510
00:31:11,360 --> 00:31:15,080
willing to do whatever you 
think's best and whatever you 

511
00:31:15,080 --> 00:31:17,840
want to do on me. 
I'm, I'm fine with it as long as

512
00:31:17,840 --> 00:31:20,680
we get it done. 
And I told him I wanted to be 

513
00:31:20,680 --> 00:31:25,240
the quickest bear recovery 
attack victim ever. 

514
00:31:26,000 --> 00:31:28,360
And I had to revise that, 
'cause, you know, once you're 

515
00:31:28,360 --> 00:31:31,240
attacked by a bear, it's like 
you buy a car, you see a bunch 

516
00:31:31,240 --> 00:31:34,760
of cars like yours. 
Now, once you get attacked by a 

517
00:31:34,760 --> 00:31:37,280
bear, you see there's a lot of 
bear attacks out there. 

518
00:31:38,040 --> 00:31:40,680
So I had to revise it and say, 
you know, I wanted to be the 

519
00:31:41,000 --> 00:31:44,560
quickest throat attack, bear 
recovery ever. 

520
00:31:45,240 --> 00:31:49,000
And I said my odds are pretty 
good in Vegas because not too 

521
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:53,520
many people survive that fact. 
I tell people 1/2 a tooth more, 

522
00:31:53,520 --> 00:31:55,640
I wouldn't be here. 
I'm only here by the grace of 

523
00:31:55,640 --> 00:31:56,760
God. 
Yeah. 

524
00:31:57,440 --> 00:32:00,520
It's only he that could have 
stopped that bear just short of 

525
00:32:00,720 --> 00:32:02,440
killing me. 
I believe that for sure. 

526
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,640
Yeah. 
So you're learning to did you 

527
00:32:06,640 --> 00:32:09,240
have to what, what did it take 
to like have to learn how to eat

528
00:32:09,400 --> 00:32:10,680
and. 
Well. 

529
00:32:12,880 --> 00:32:14,800
That's where the tube went into 
my stomach. 

530
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:17,120
That's how I fed myself for six 
months. 

531
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:22,920
Oh wow. 
So yeah, and that hole in my 

532
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:24,840
chin right there. 
Yeah. 

533
00:32:26,120 --> 00:32:29,720
That was that was the main 
reason I couldn't eat or 

534
00:32:29,720 --> 00:32:32,760
swallow. 
Once that hole sealed up, then 

535
00:32:32,760 --> 00:32:35,640
it's like, OK, you can blend 
anything up. 

536
00:32:35,640 --> 00:32:38,800
They gave me some lung syringes.
I could shoot stuff in my mouth 

537
00:32:39,680 --> 00:32:43,120
and it's kind of interesting 
because some things don't taste 

538
00:32:43,120 --> 00:32:46,440
good blended up. 
So I was like, well, if it 

539
00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,320
didn't taste good, I'd shoot in 
my stomach too. 

540
00:32:49,640 --> 00:32:51,520
If it tasted good then I'd 
shoot. 

541
00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,880
So what's what's eating like now
for you? 

542
00:32:57,800 --> 00:33:01,400
Still not normal, it'll never be
normal, but at least I can eat 

543
00:33:01,400 --> 00:33:04,120
almost anything. 
Still have a hard time with 

544
00:33:04,120 --> 00:33:08,200
lettuce and things that you 
really got to bite off to chew. 

545
00:33:09,040 --> 00:33:11,920
I can't eat an apple. 
I can't eat corn on the cob. 

546
00:33:13,840 --> 00:33:17,080
Some stuff I don't know. 
I gave the doctor a little crap 

547
00:33:17,080 --> 00:33:20,120
'cause she showed my mouth, shut
my mouth. 

548
00:33:20,120 --> 00:33:22,480
Used to be out to hear, you 
know, I used to have a pretty 

549
00:33:22,480 --> 00:33:26,160
wide smile and a pretty big 
mouth and I said, you're trying 

550
00:33:26,160 --> 00:33:28,080
to shut me up. 
Who'd put you out to that? 

551
00:33:29,440 --> 00:33:32,360
It's so so if you if you've got 
a meal in front of you now, 

552
00:33:32,840 --> 00:33:34,160
like, yeah, could you eat a 
burger? 

553
00:33:34,160 --> 00:33:35,680
Could you eat French fries? 
Could you I? 

554
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:39,360
I can eat pretty much anything 
but a burger. 

555
00:33:39,360 --> 00:33:41,880
It's like just eating a peanut 
butter and Jelly sandwich. 

556
00:33:41,920 --> 00:33:44,440
Yeah, I've got to squish it down
and put it in my mouth. 

557
00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:49,280
In fact, I got a a thing to use 
on my mouth to try and spread 

558
00:33:49,280 --> 00:33:52,880
it. 
That that was her tactic. 

559
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:56,960
Instead of cutting my mouth open
more was to try and stretch it 

560
00:33:56,960 --> 00:33:59,160
open. 
And they gave me one and I 

561
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:00,440
couldn't even get it in my 
mouth. 

562
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:05,040
They had to order me a kids one 
and I got it finally to where I 

563
00:34:05,040 --> 00:34:08,679
could open it and now I can get 
the big one in. 

564
00:34:09,000 --> 00:34:13,239
So I'm I'm getting better, but I
still can't. 

565
00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:15,080
It's like you give me a soup 
spoon. 

566
00:34:15,080 --> 00:34:18,280
I got to take take it back. 
If I go to a restaurant, you got

567
00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,679
a smaller spoon because I can't 
get a soup spoon in my mouth. 

568
00:34:22,239 --> 00:34:24,639
What was the first thing you 
were wanting to eat? 

569
00:34:25,560 --> 00:34:29,280
Well, I told him in the hospital
that we just got a Texas 

570
00:34:29,280 --> 00:34:34,760
Roadhouse in Bozeman, and I said
it was too busy, It hadn't 

571
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:37,920
slowed down enough for me to go 
there and try it. 

572
00:34:39,239 --> 00:34:42,239
So that was one of the first 
things I wanted to do. 

573
00:34:42,239 --> 00:34:45,199
And they heard about it and sent
me a box of stuff and the. 

574
00:34:45,840 --> 00:34:48,880
Texas Roadhouse did. 
And the guy that's cool runs and

575
00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:52,800
owns the one in Bozeman said, 
well, you know, soon as you're 

576
00:34:52,800 --> 00:34:55,280
ready to eat, bring your family 
and it's on me. 

577
00:34:55,520 --> 00:34:58,520
Wow. 
And he's actually paid for a 

578
00:34:58,520 --> 00:35:01,440
couple of my meals in there now,
so. 

579
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,480
But yeah. 
Did they ever find the bear? 

580
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:07,920
They stopped looking for it the 
next day. 

581
00:35:08,400 --> 00:35:11,560
So they went up the next day and
did a thorough investigation of 

582
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:14,240
the area, found out that he was 
on a dead deer. 

583
00:35:14,680 --> 00:35:16,960
It wasn't the same deer that the
son had shot. 

584
00:35:16,960 --> 00:35:19,160
And he had a stash of pine nuts 
there too. 

585
00:35:19,560 --> 00:35:23,080
So that was kind of his dining 
area, his stash. 

586
00:35:24,680 --> 00:35:28,880
They didn't see any blood. 
He was guarding a dead animal, 

587
00:35:28,880 --> 00:35:32,760
so they determined he was acting
appropriately, that he wasn't 

588
00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:37,360
being aggressive and just about 
to attack me, so they called it 

589
00:35:37,360 --> 00:35:40,040
good. 
So his intent wasn't necessarily

590
00:35:40,040 --> 00:35:41,800
to kill you, it was just to get 
you out of there. 

591
00:35:41,800 --> 00:35:45,920
Well, and like I said, that's 
the two reasons out of the three

592
00:35:45,920 --> 00:35:49,080
that a barrel attack is they're 
guarding food, they're 

593
00:35:49,080 --> 00:35:51,920
protecting their food source, 
whether it's a bear, whether 

594
00:35:51,920 --> 00:35:55,000
it's wolves, whatever it is, 
they're going to try and protect

595
00:35:55,000 --> 00:35:57,840
that food source. 
Or if you straddle him. 

596
00:35:57,840 --> 00:36:01,200
And I think I had both. 
So I think he didn't know I was 

597
00:36:01,200 --> 00:36:05,600
there till I was there and and 
he was guarding his food and he 

598
00:36:05,600 --> 00:36:08,280
didn't know what he was guarding
it from at the moment. 

599
00:36:09,080 --> 00:36:11,040
Have you been back out since? 
Oh yeah. 

600
00:36:11,480 --> 00:36:13,480
You've been back out to that 
location and visited. 

601
00:36:13,480 --> 00:36:17,000
I haven't been to that exact 
spot, but I'm up that trail all 

602
00:36:17,000 --> 00:36:19,040
the time, every day. 
What was that like? 

603
00:36:19,480 --> 00:36:24,040
We buried my old dog, my big 
dog, at the fork of the trail 

604
00:36:24,040 --> 00:36:26,760
where the two trails where I 
started down the one trail. 

605
00:36:28,560 --> 00:36:30,600
So he's up there watching that 
trail now. 

606
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:34,320
That's one of the reasons I got 
that dog was to protect my 

607
00:36:34,320 --> 00:36:36,720
youngest son. 
And I had a dream when I first 

608
00:36:36,720 --> 00:36:41,200
went and looked at him, that 
that he was with me, and he 

609
00:36:41,200 --> 00:36:43,040
stood off a bear. 
Wow. 

610
00:36:43,960 --> 00:36:47,240
In that dream, so that was the 
main reason that I got that dog 

611
00:36:47,240 --> 00:36:51,640
and he was a black lab mastiff 
mix, so he was £120 dog. 

612
00:36:52,920 --> 00:36:56,720
Oh boy, sorry to hear that. 
Oh, he, he was old. 

613
00:36:57,560 --> 00:36:59,760
Yeah. 
It's one of those situations. 

614
00:37:01,600 --> 00:37:04,520
Was there anxiety going back 
out? 

615
00:37:05,160 --> 00:37:09,240
No, really, no. 
I have no problem going back 

616
00:37:09,240 --> 00:37:10,440
out. 
I've been running the woods 

617
00:37:10,440 --> 00:37:15,120
since I was young, and bears are
a part of life. 

618
00:37:15,120 --> 00:37:18,880
And I tell people, I've had 
people cancel on me because of 

619
00:37:18,880 --> 00:37:20,960
this. 
They're like, we're afraid to go

620
00:37:20,960 --> 00:37:22,720
out there. 
It's like, well, I'm packing. 

621
00:37:23,520 --> 00:37:25,560
I've got bear spraying on my 
units. 

622
00:37:27,240 --> 00:37:30,120
You're in a big unit. 
They're not going to attack you 

623
00:37:30,120 --> 00:37:32,200
in a side by side. 
That's something pretty big to 

624
00:37:32,200 --> 00:37:35,920
attack. 
But I still had people cancel 

625
00:37:35,920 --> 00:37:37,320
and say that we don't want to 
go. 

626
00:37:37,320 --> 00:37:40,920
It's we're afraid of it. 
And it's like, OK. 

627
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:47,640
Have you had any like issues 
with PTSD? 

628
00:37:48,000 --> 00:37:53,160
I'd like a week in the hospital 
that I had nightmares, but that 

629
00:37:53,160 --> 00:37:55,840
was it. 
I didn't sleep very good anyhow 

630
00:37:55,840 --> 00:37:59,280
in the hospital because in the 
beginning it's like I had to be 

631
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:03,280
at a certain angle otherwise I 
felt like I was going to be 

632
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:05,200
choking on my own spit and 
blood. 

633
00:38:05,720 --> 00:38:10,160
And you know, I'd have to be on 
one side or the other so it 

634
00:38:10,160 --> 00:38:12,240
could drain out. 
So it wasn't going down my 

635
00:38:12,240 --> 00:38:15,280
throat. 
So I didn't get, you know, about

636
00:38:15,280 --> 00:38:18,280
an hour or two, sleep every 
night at a time. 

637
00:38:18,440 --> 00:38:21,600
So it's like an hour wake up, an
hour wake up. 

638
00:38:22,640 --> 00:38:27,280
And actually one of the nurses, 
I think it was in the ICU like 

639
00:38:27,280 --> 00:38:32,720
day 2 or day three, she's like, 
you want to marry, you want to 

640
00:38:32,720 --> 00:38:34,440
look at yourself. 
I said no, no. 

641
00:38:35,760 --> 00:38:38,920
So the first time I actually saw
myself was when they took the 

642
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:42,320
catheter out and I could go to 
the bathroom for the first time 

643
00:38:42,320 --> 00:38:45,120
and I looked in the mirror and 
it's like, no. 

644
00:38:46,560 --> 00:38:49,320
But at that point they had, I 
don't know if you looked at any 

645
00:38:49,320 --> 00:38:54,760
of those pictures, but they had 
the nettle thing on my skin, 

646
00:38:54,920 --> 00:38:58,240
keeping it stretched out so it 
wouldn't all shrink up. 

647
00:38:58,240 --> 00:39:00,880
So they wouldn't have anything 
to work with when they put me 

648
00:39:00,880 --> 00:39:04,240
back together. 
And at one point that I had like

649
00:39:04,240 --> 00:39:07,040
a metal band around it to 
protect it. 

650
00:39:07,040 --> 00:39:10,280
And I said you need to put a 
plastic beanie on me so I look 

651
00:39:10,280 --> 00:39:15,760
like I got a football helmet on.
Oh wow. 

652
00:39:17,240 --> 00:39:19,720
Yeah, I'm, I'm a jokester by 
heart. 

653
00:39:19,720 --> 00:39:25,920
And I I, I tried to make it as 
fun as I could in the hospital. 

654
00:39:25,920 --> 00:39:29,320
Everybody loved me. 
And it's like, I started out 

655
00:39:29,320 --> 00:39:32,480
with one white board and then I 
had two and then I had three. 

656
00:39:32,480 --> 00:39:37,120
And it's like I'd, I'd wake up 
at night and I'd have a a 

657
00:39:37,120 --> 00:39:40,680
spiritual thought or a quote for
the day that I'd write on a 

658
00:39:40,680 --> 00:39:42,880
whiteboard and I'd put it up on 
the wall and everybody would 

659
00:39:42,880 --> 00:39:45,520
come in and look at it and. 
Are you a spiritual person? 

660
00:39:45,560 --> 00:39:48,000
I am What? 
What did you talk about that? 

661
00:39:48,080 --> 00:39:53,000
I was before this, but yeah, I 
definitely know it was God's 

662
00:39:53,000 --> 00:39:56,440
hand in my life then. 
And, and actually it was like 

663
00:39:56,440 --> 00:40:01,120
the second or third day the 
Bishop of my ward. 

664
00:40:01,840 --> 00:40:04,480
Drove from Bozeman down to Salt 
Lake to give me a blessing. 

665
00:40:04,480 --> 00:40:08,400
And then that blessing. 
He told me that I grow from this

666
00:40:08,880 --> 00:40:14,400
experience spiritually. 
And after that, that night, that

667
00:40:14,400 --> 00:40:18,680
first night, I had a dream and I
could see an invisible floor and

668
00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:20,800
a voice told me to take the step
up. 

669
00:40:20,800 --> 00:40:24,080
And I took a step up and he 
said, welcome to your next step 

670
00:40:24,080 --> 00:40:27,800
of spirituality. 
Then the next night, I had a 

671
00:40:27,800 --> 00:40:33,800
dream and it told me that this 
was my answer, my prayers. 

672
00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:42,680
And people comment to me all the
time about my attitude in the 

673
00:40:42,680 --> 00:40:46,080
hospital, that you're so 
positive and everything. 

674
00:40:46,080 --> 00:40:50,440
And it's like, well, when you 
were told that you prayed for 

675
00:40:50,440 --> 00:40:52,880
this, how could you have a bad 
attitude? 

676
00:40:54,600 --> 00:40:57,560
And they're like, well, how did 
you pray for that? 

677
00:40:57,920 --> 00:41:00,880
And I said, well, I'm 
self-employed. 

678
00:41:00,880 --> 00:41:03,960
I own my own business and it's a
seasonal business. 

679
00:41:03,960 --> 00:41:06,720
I'm the small guy. 
I run 10 machines to the other 

680
00:41:06,720 --> 00:41:11,160
guy's 90 and the other guy's 70.
So, you know, I'm competing with

681
00:41:11,160 --> 00:41:15,800
the big fish. 
And I don't have property of my 

682
00:41:15,800 --> 00:41:17,400
own. 
I don't make enough money to 

683
00:41:17,400 --> 00:41:21,280
even afford property up there. 
So it's like I've been praying 

684
00:41:21,280 --> 00:41:26,160
for years to have my father to 
help me financially if I'm going

685
00:41:26,160 --> 00:41:28,720
to succeed, because I know what 
I do, it's a good thing. 

686
00:41:28,720 --> 00:41:31,320
I bring families together. 
I get people out in the great 

687
00:41:31,320 --> 00:41:33,400
outdoors to see what God 
created. 

688
00:41:34,480 --> 00:41:38,320
And so I know what I do is good.
And I said, you know, human 

689
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:42,200
father, if I'm going to keep 
doing this, I need help. 

690
00:41:42,280 --> 00:41:47,800
I need financial help. 
And I was expecting to win the 

691
00:41:47,800 --> 00:41:51,400
lottery or sweepstakes or I know
a lot of rich people. 

692
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:55,600
I expected somebody to say, hey,
we think you're doing a great 

693
00:41:55,600 --> 00:41:57,800
job, We think you're needed in 
the community. 

694
00:41:58,320 --> 00:42:01,000
We want to donate some land to 
you or give you some money to 

695
00:42:01,000 --> 00:42:03,960
get some land so you're settled,
that you got a permanent 

696
00:42:03,960 --> 00:42:07,480
foundation. 
And I wasn't expecting a Veritat

697
00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:14,120
to be the answer to my prayers, 
but I was told in that dream 

698
00:42:14,120 --> 00:42:17,560
that this would open doors. 
And here I am. 

699
00:42:22,360 --> 00:42:24,960
On the third night, I had a 
dream that kind of laid out the 

700
00:42:24,960 --> 00:42:31,880
rest of my life that my business
is so many days and other days 

701
00:42:31,880 --> 00:42:37,720
of the week, 2 days of the week 
I was going to be doing stuff 

702
00:42:37,720 --> 00:42:39,120
like this. 
Trying to. 

703
00:42:39,480 --> 00:42:42,160
That was one of the reasons I 
was told I was spared was to 

704
00:42:42,160 --> 00:42:44,600
share my story with as many 
people as I can. 

705
00:42:44,600 --> 00:42:48,120
Because, you know, I've had 
people say you're a hero and 

706
00:42:48,120 --> 00:42:51,560
you're inspiring, and I'll take 
inspiring any day. 

707
00:42:52,280 --> 00:42:54,840
I'm no hero. 
It's not like I was saving a 

708
00:42:54,840 --> 00:42:58,760
bunch of Cub Scouts from getting
mauled by a bear or anything. 

709
00:42:58,760 --> 00:43:04,400
But I like to think that, you 
know, my story can pretty much 

710
00:43:04,400 --> 00:43:07,560
touch anybody. 
You don't even have to believe 

711
00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:09,800
in God to have my story help 
you. 

712
00:43:09,920 --> 00:43:13,200
It's like none of us are 
guaranteed tomorrow. 

713
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:17,960
You know, don't take those 
little things for granted. 

714
00:43:17,960 --> 00:43:22,040
You know, like eating, 
breathing, talking, swallowing. 

715
00:43:22,040 --> 00:43:24,200
I, I got to think every time I 
swallow. 

716
00:43:24,240 --> 00:43:26,400
I can't, I don't just swallow 
naturally. 

717
00:43:27,320 --> 00:43:30,920
So, you know, all those little 
things, you know, if you burn 

718
00:43:30,920 --> 00:43:34,520
bridges, broken fences, you need
to mend them. 

719
00:43:34,880 --> 00:43:37,720
You know, you don't have a 
guaranteed amount of time on 

720
00:43:37,720 --> 00:43:41,080
this or get it done. 
So, you know, just those few 

721
00:43:41,080 --> 00:43:43,440
things could help almost anybody
out there. 

722
00:43:44,160 --> 00:43:46,360
How do you feel that God's 
opened the door for you since 

723
00:43:46,360 --> 00:43:50,600
this has happened? 
Well, I tell tell my story to 

724
00:43:50,600 --> 00:43:52,880
everybody. 
So I go to a restaurant, gas 

725
00:43:52,880 --> 00:43:55,520
station, whatever hotel, 
airline. 

726
00:43:55,760 --> 00:43:58,200
It's like the first airplane I 
jumped on today. 

727
00:43:58,640 --> 00:44:01,200
When I got off, I told the 
flight attendants, I said, well,

728
00:44:01,200 --> 00:44:04,840
you can tell some people at home
that you met somebody almost 

729
00:44:04,840 --> 00:44:07,240
famous today. 
They're like, Oh yeah, who's 

730
00:44:07,240 --> 00:44:09,400
that? 
And I said to me, I Google it 

731
00:44:09,400 --> 00:44:12,760
and show them one of the 
articles on me and they're like,

732
00:44:13,120 --> 00:44:18,680
whoa, that's a story in the one 
flight attendant. 

733
00:44:18,680 --> 00:44:21,280
She's like, you should have told
me that at the beginning of the 

734
00:44:21,280 --> 00:44:22,640
flight. 
I would have announced it. 

735
00:44:22,640 --> 00:44:26,920
That, you know, that guy with a 
tissue on his mouth, he's not 

736
00:44:26,920 --> 00:44:28,640
sick. 
Don't look at him like he's a 

737
00:44:28,640 --> 00:44:31,600
lipper. 
He was attacked by a grizzly 

738
00:44:31,600 --> 00:44:38,240
bear and survived. 
So yeah, I think, you know, I'm 

739
00:44:38,240 --> 00:44:41,360
expecting the doors to flood 
light open me to get rich right 

740
00:44:41,360 --> 00:44:43,600
now. 
But you know, it'll, it'll come 

741
00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:47,600
when God wants it to come. 
You know, I, I kind of expected 

742
00:44:47,600 --> 00:44:51,120
it to happen overnight and, and 
things to roll. 

743
00:44:51,120 --> 00:44:55,040
But you know, it all happens in 
his time and when he knows when 

744
00:44:55,040 --> 00:45:00,840
it's the time to happen. 
And you know, you saw my story 

745
00:45:00,840 --> 00:45:02,360
somewhere. 
You called me. 

746
00:45:02,920 --> 00:45:08,320
You know, somebody will see your
story on me and they'll call me 

747
00:45:08,320 --> 00:45:11,680
and it'll just keep going. 
I keep telling people I'm going 

748
00:45:11,680 --> 00:45:15,480
to melt my 15 minutes of fame 
out for as long as I can. 

749
00:45:16,200 --> 00:45:18,520
And I, I started writing the 
book. 

750
00:45:19,320 --> 00:45:23,280
You know, this was the first 
edition I called, but I I sat 

751
00:45:23,280 --> 00:45:28,400
down and started with the first 
bear encounter that I had at 10 

752
00:45:29,160 --> 00:45:31,200
and. 
I don't know. 

753
00:45:31,200 --> 00:45:34,840
I can't remember if it's like 15
or 20 encounters that I've had 

754
00:45:34,840 --> 00:45:40,640
between that one and this one, 
and I probably had more than 

755
00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:42,200
that. 
But that's just the ones where 

756
00:45:42,280 --> 00:45:45,520
it could have went South and 
never did that. 

757
00:45:45,520 --> 00:45:47,960
The bear was actually close to 
note that they could have done 

758
00:45:47,960 --> 00:45:52,000
something but didn't. 
And then I got to the point 

759
00:45:52,000 --> 00:45:58,080
where I didn't know anything and
I went to the hospital in 

760
00:45:58,080 --> 00:46:02,160
Bozeman and got their 
manuscripts of, of what happened

761
00:46:02,160 --> 00:46:04,680
that day. 
And it's kind of funny 'cause 

762
00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:08,120
that's going in the book too, 
cause somebody wrote down there 

763
00:46:08,120 --> 00:46:15,360
that I was 123 year old woman 
when I got attacked by a pair. 

764
00:46:15,840 --> 00:46:18,520
Oh, all right. 
Good thing it wasn't a Peach, 

765
00:46:18,600 --> 00:46:22,520
huh? 
That's going to go on the story 

766
00:46:22,520 --> 00:46:25,800
too. 
But yeah, I'm at the hard part 

767
00:46:25,800 --> 00:46:28,080
where, you know, I don't 
remember a whole lot in the 

768
00:46:28,080 --> 00:46:32,560
hospital and I don't. 
My daughters did everything, you

769
00:46:32,560 --> 00:46:38,600
know, they mark down dated when 
I took my first steps, when this

770
00:46:38,600 --> 00:46:42,840
tube came out, when the chest 
tube came out, all that stuff. 

771
00:46:42,840 --> 00:46:46,680
So you know, that'll go in the 
book too. 

772
00:46:47,200 --> 00:46:50,280
Wow. 
And I thought I was in the 

773
00:46:50,280 --> 00:46:54,960
hospital, that, you know, boy, 
if this gets into a movie, who 

774
00:46:54,960 --> 00:47:00,080
would I want to play me? 
And I thought of a few names 

775
00:47:00,080 --> 00:47:04,880
and, and one of them that stuck 
with me was Cole Hauser from 

776
00:47:04,880 --> 00:47:09,320
Yellowstone. 
And he actually has roots in 

777
00:47:09,320 --> 00:47:11,880
Montana. 
And I actually met him in a 

778
00:47:11,880 --> 00:47:14,160
liquor store. 
He was doing a promotion for his

779
00:47:14,160 --> 00:47:16,840
new bourbon there. 
And same thing. 

780
00:47:16,840 --> 00:47:19,640
I was standing in line because 
he was taking photographs with 

781
00:47:19,640 --> 00:47:22,560
everybody. 
And I was the next one standing 

782
00:47:22,560 --> 00:47:25,520
in line waiting to get my 
picture with him. 

783
00:47:25,840 --> 00:47:27,920
And I didn't have my chin or my 
tooth in. 

784
00:47:27,960 --> 00:47:30,920
So I was still pretty scary. 
I still had the bandage around 

785
00:47:30,920 --> 00:47:33,160
my head because that hole wasn't
sealed up. 

786
00:47:33,840 --> 00:47:38,840
And the guy taking the pictures,
he's like, we're going to take a

787
00:47:38,840 --> 00:47:41,760
a little break. 
Is that OK with you? 

788
00:47:41,760 --> 00:47:47,200
And I said yeah. 
And as soon as I said yeah, Cole

789
00:47:47,200 --> 00:47:51,760
goes like this and points at me 
and he starts walking towards me

790
00:47:52,560 --> 00:47:55,560
and there's pictures online of 
him doing that. 

791
00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:58,080
It's like, it's like you're the 
bear guy. 

792
00:47:59,160 --> 00:48:01,920
I said, yeah, he's like, how you
doing? 

793
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:04,880
I said, I'm doing all right. 
He's like, are you going to get 

794
00:48:04,880 --> 00:48:06,440
back out there? 
I said, oh, I was out there 

795
00:48:06,440 --> 00:48:09,600
today. 
He's like, no good for you. 

796
00:48:09,920 --> 00:48:12,440
He's like, I heard you want me 
to play in the movie. 

797
00:48:12,920 --> 00:48:15,480
I said, yeah, but I didn't know 
how tall you were. 

798
00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:19,640
I said, and they're going to 
have to Gray up a lot because 

799
00:48:19,640 --> 00:48:22,280
you're a lot younger than I am. 
He's like, oh, they can do that 

800
00:48:22,280 --> 00:48:24,080
pretty easy. 
And I think he would have talked

801
00:48:24,080 --> 00:48:26,960
to me for quite a while, but you
know, he still has a line of 

802
00:48:27,120 --> 00:48:29,240
people doing it and just take 
photographs. 

803
00:48:29,240 --> 00:48:32,160
But he was pretty cool. 
That's amazing. 

804
00:48:32,560 --> 00:48:36,280
Now, I, I, I think I already 
know the answer to this 

805
00:48:36,280 --> 00:48:38,480
question, but I'm going to ask 
you anyway. 

806
00:48:41,200 --> 00:48:46,520
If you could go back and, and 
never have had this experience 

807
00:48:46,520 --> 00:48:48,640
in your life and never 
experience everything that's 

808
00:48:48,640 --> 00:48:52,320
come up until now, would you go 
back and remove it? 

809
00:48:52,320 --> 00:48:56,040
Nope. 
You know I was going to say 

810
00:48:56,040 --> 00:48:59,440
that, didn't you? 
Yeah, it was just meant to be 

811
00:48:59,960 --> 00:49:03,560
in. 
I don't think they're, you know,

812
00:49:03,560 --> 00:49:09,760
I, I've, I've had instances in 
my life where I know God saved 

813
00:49:09,760 --> 00:49:11,320
me. 
It's like, you know, you never 

814
00:49:11,320 --> 00:49:14,840
think of things like, you know, 
you get out going to start your 

815
00:49:14,840 --> 00:49:18,080
car and your battery doesn't 
start, Your car doesn't start. 

816
00:49:18,080 --> 00:49:21,280
You put the jumper cables on, it
starts right up. 

817
00:49:21,880 --> 00:49:25,240
You don't have a problem. 
You get to where you're going or

818
00:49:25,240 --> 00:49:26,480
on the road to where you're 
going. 

819
00:49:26,480 --> 00:49:30,480
And there was a semi truck that 
rolled over and smashed the car,

820
00:49:30,480 --> 00:49:35,240
you know, 5 minutes ago that you
would have been there 5 minutes 

821
00:49:35,240 --> 00:49:39,160
ago. 
So it's like, you know, I, I 

822
00:49:39,160 --> 00:49:42,400
take everything, everything's 
got, it's good and bad. 

823
00:49:42,400 --> 00:49:45,040
And you can learn from every 
experience whether it's good or 

824
00:49:45,040 --> 00:49:45,840
bad. 
So. 

825
00:49:47,960 --> 00:49:51,440
Your your story is is absolutely
incredible. 

826
00:49:51,440 --> 00:49:55,200
I I'm glad I only learned a 
little bit about you before you 

827
00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:59,880
came here because it's, it's I, 
I am absolutely blown away. 

828
00:49:59,960 --> 00:50:01,760
I, I think you are an 
inspirational person. 

829
00:50:01,760 --> 00:50:06,560
I think you have a, a story to 
tell. 

830
00:50:07,080 --> 00:50:10,320
And I'm a spiritual person too, 
just in case anybody's 

831
00:50:10,320 --> 00:50:12,040
wondering. 
I actually was in ministry for a

832
00:50:12,040 --> 00:50:16,120
long time before I did this. 
And yeah, I think that's got a 

833
00:50:16,840 --> 00:50:21,640
an incredible plan for your 
story and giving you a voice to 

834
00:50:21,640 --> 00:50:25,880
be able to share what he's 
pulled you out of because 

835
00:50:25,880 --> 00:50:27,080
somebody else needs to hear 
that. 

836
00:50:27,520 --> 00:50:31,880
Well, one of my buddies, he's 
like, you know, I'll be having a

837
00:50:31,880 --> 00:50:35,560
bad day thinking, yeah, what a 
crappy day I'm having. 

838
00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:39,200
And I'll just think of Rudy and 
say, well, I'm not having a got 

839
00:50:39,200 --> 00:50:41,880
my jaw bit off by a grizzly bear
baddest day. 

840
00:50:43,480 --> 00:50:47,000
So, so, you know, even it just 
helps somebody that's just 

841
00:50:47,000 --> 00:50:49,080
having a bad day. 
Well, could be worse. 

842
00:50:49,520 --> 00:50:51,000
I couldn't have my jaw bitten 
off. 

843
00:50:51,600 --> 00:50:54,240
I actually talked to a cop 
because I was trying to round up

844
00:50:54,240 --> 00:50:56,320
the people that searched and 
rescued me. 

845
00:50:56,320 --> 00:50:58,880
So I stopped in the police 
station in Big Sky, which is 

846
00:50:59,480 --> 00:51:01,880
real small. 
Their office is probably this 

847
00:51:01,880 --> 00:51:05,440
big. 
And the guy that was in the 

848
00:51:05,440 --> 00:51:08,600
office, he's like, no, I've, I, 
I heard about you. 

849
00:51:09,040 --> 00:51:11,200
He's like, but I wasn't on call 
that day. 

850
00:51:13,080 --> 00:51:18,080
Funny stories, like I was 
sitting in my recliner feeling 

851
00:51:18,080 --> 00:51:21,760
sorry for myself because I 
banged up my knee riding my 

852
00:51:21,760 --> 00:51:25,120
mountain bike. 
And then your story broke on the

853
00:51:25,120 --> 00:51:28,200
news. 
It's like, well, my day's not 

854
00:51:28,200 --> 00:51:29,680
that fast. 
Wow, yeah. 

855
00:51:31,120 --> 00:51:35,280
So yeah, hopefully, you know, 
the more I can get it out there.

856
00:51:35,960 --> 00:51:40,280
You know, I, I just think and I,
I don't know, I prove every day 

857
00:51:40,280 --> 00:51:44,240
that most people are good. 
You know, everybody says how in 

858
00:51:44,240 --> 00:51:47,320
the world's going to crap and 
people aren't honest. 

859
00:51:47,320 --> 00:51:51,520
People aren't good people. 
It's like I run my business. 

860
00:51:51,520 --> 00:51:58,880
Like I want to be treated If I 
was going somewhere, you know, 

861
00:51:58,880 --> 00:52:01,160
I'm about as laid back as you 
can get. 

862
00:52:01,280 --> 00:52:03,600
I don't charge people till they 
come back. 

863
00:52:03,600 --> 00:52:07,680
I don't do deposits. 
I don't do all the stuff the 

864
00:52:07,680 --> 00:52:13,560
other guys do. 
It's like, you know, I don't 

865
00:52:13,560 --> 00:52:17,280
have sign damage waivers and 
look for damage. 

866
00:52:17,280 --> 00:52:20,200
It's like if you do damage, I 
expect you to pay for it if 

867
00:52:20,200 --> 00:52:22,520
you're not honest enough to pay 
for it. 

868
00:52:22,520 --> 00:52:27,560
And I get one a year. 
So 99% of the people in my 

869
00:52:27,560 --> 00:52:29,920
opinion are good people. 
If they do something, they're 

870
00:52:29,920 --> 00:52:32,720
going to tell you and pay for it
and have no problem with it. 

871
00:52:32,720 --> 00:52:37,480
And it's usually that one rich 
person that you want to get it 

872
00:52:37,480 --> 00:52:39,000
out of me, you can talk to my 
lawyer. 

873
00:52:39,000 --> 00:52:41,640
That lawyer is going to cost 
more than the damages on that 

874
00:52:41,640 --> 00:52:42,960
snowmobile. 
Come on. 

875
00:52:45,280 --> 00:52:49,200
But yeah, I I say to myself, you
know, I I proved that most 

876
00:52:49,200 --> 00:52:52,560
people are good. 
It's like the family that I had 

877
00:52:52,560 --> 00:52:55,160
out just the other day. 
It's like they're from Florida. 

878
00:52:55,160 --> 00:52:59,840
And they're like, well, you ever
get down in our area, you come 

879
00:52:59,840 --> 00:53:02,120
see us, we'll take you out and 
show you around. 

880
00:53:02,120 --> 00:53:06,520
And they invited me to go to 
dinner with them that night when

881
00:53:06,520 --> 00:53:11,160
they got done snowmobiling. 
I I've kind of done my business 

882
00:53:11,160 --> 00:53:15,680
that since I opened with, you 
know, they start as customers, 

883
00:53:16,280 --> 00:53:18,640
but they end up as friends or 
family. 

884
00:53:18,640 --> 00:53:20,920
You know, they're, they're 
lifetime friends. 

885
00:53:20,920 --> 00:53:23,720
I'm not here just to make a 
buck. 

886
00:53:23,720 --> 00:53:28,600
I'm here to have forever people.
They want to come back and, and 

887
00:53:28,600 --> 00:53:30,640
go again. 
Anytime they're in Big Sky, they

888
00:53:30,640 --> 00:53:34,520
want to see me. 
So I actually had some girls 

889
00:53:34,960 --> 00:53:40,080
came from somewhere back east. 
They actually kind of planned 

890
00:53:40,080 --> 00:53:43,080
their vacation. 
They saw my story and they 

891
00:53:43,080 --> 00:53:46,520
planned their vacation to Big 
Sky to come snowmobile with me. 

892
00:53:46,720 --> 00:53:47,520
Really. 
Yeah. 

893
00:53:47,520 --> 00:53:49,160
How cool is that? 
That was cool. 

894
00:53:49,160 --> 00:53:50,800
Yeah. 
And I didn't charge him. 

895
00:53:50,800 --> 00:53:55,560
I said, you know, you girls are 
are so fun. 

896
00:53:55,560 --> 00:53:58,840
We had, you know, every time we 
stop, they're just asking me 

897
00:53:58,840 --> 00:54:03,000
questions like you are, oh man, 
you're just so amazing, this and

898
00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:05,160
that and the other. 
And it's like we get back down. 

899
00:54:05,160 --> 00:54:07,760
They're like, no, we're going to
tip you anyhow. 

900
00:54:07,760 --> 00:54:10,600
We're going to pay them. 
And of course, you know, with 

901
00:54:11,960 --> 00:54:14,600
all the ways they can pay 
nowadays, it's like, Nope, they 

902
00:54:14,600 --> 00:54:16,360
figured out a way to tip me. 
Yeah, wow. 

903
00:54:19,040 --> 00:54:21,840
So if there's anything that you 
could tell anyone based off of 

904
00:54:21,840 --> 00:54:24,160
what has happened to you, what's
the message that you want to 

905
00:54:24,160 --> 00:54:28,160
share? 
Well, one, if you're out in the 

906
00:54:28,160 --> 00:54:30,920
woods, you need to be bare 
aware. 

907
00:54:32,200 --> 00:54:35,040
Actually, who would have guessed
I would have been show and tell,

908
00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:39,600
but my granddaughter took me 
into her class for show and tell

909
00:54:41,400 --> 00:54:42,760
and. 
How old is she? 

910
00:54:43,120 --> 00:54:49,560
12 and the problem is, is, is a 
couple of kids had lost their 

911
00:54:49,560 --> 00:54:53,360
father from a bear attack in her
class Oh wow. 

912
00:54:53,360 --> 00:54:55,800
So the teacher's like, I don't 
have a problem with you coming. 

913
00:54:55,800 --> 00:55:00,240
I'd really like you to come and 
share your experience, but I 

914
00:55:00,240 --> 00:55:03,120
don't know about the two kids, 
how well they'll take it if you 

915
00:55:03,120 --> 00:55:06,680
know, you're really, if you take
your chin off and all that 

916
00:55:06,680 --> 00:55:10,360
stuff, you know how they'll take
it. 

917
00:55:10,360 --> 00:55:16,520
So my granddaughter did a whole 
tablet presentation on me and 

918
00:55:16,520 --> 00:55:19,520
everything else and had pictures
from the Internet and whatever 

919
00:55:19,520 --> 00:55:24,120
and put it together. 
And I told my story and the 

920
00:55:24,120 --> 00:55:26,120
teacher asked me quite a few 
questions. 

921
00:55:26,120 --> 00:55:29,800
And then some of the kids asked 
questions and, and one of the 

922
00:55:29,800 --> 00:55:33,040
kids questions was so that comes
off. 

923
00:55:33,720 --> 00:55:36,680
And I said, yeah, he's like, can
we see it? 

924
00:55:37,560 --> 00:55:41,080
And the teacher's like, well, I 
don't know if everybody wants to

925
00:55:41,080 --> 00:55:44,320
see it, so let's have a show of 
hands. 

926
00:55:44,320 --> 00:55:46,280
Who wants to look at it and who 
doesn't? 

927
00:55:46,280 --> 00:55:49,880
And of course the two kids dads 
didn't really want to see it. 

928
00:55:49,880 --> 00:55:52,600
And a couple of squeamish kids 
probably didn't want to see it. 

929
00:55:53,160 --> 00:55:55,640
But the rest of them are like, 
yeah, yeah, she's like, so if 

930
00:55:55,640 --> 00:55:57,880
you don't want to see it, just 
close your eyes, put your head 

931
00:55:57,880 --> 00:56:02,040
on your desk, whatever. 
And I took it off and, and the 

932
00:56:02,040 --> 00:56:04,840
last kid that asked me, he's 
like, could you do that again? 

933
00:56:07,960 --> 00:56:11,200
And, and the kids that weren't 
looking the first time, we're 

934
00:56:11,200 --> 00:56:14,880
looking the second time. 
And they're like, you know, and 

935
00:56:14,880 --> 00:56:18,400
the one kids like. 
So we go out in the woods with 

936
00:56:18,400 --> 00:56:22,080
our dad a lot. 
Do we really have to pack bear 

937
00:56:22,080 --> 00:56:27,520
spray and be that bear aware? 
I said, no, you know, if you're 

938
00:56:27,520 --> 00:56:33,360
just out hiking, you don't have 
a whole lot of chance of being 

939
00:56:33,360 --> 00:56:36,720
attacked by a bear. 
It's like if you're on a trail 

940
00:56:36,720 --> 00:56:40,120
and you're hiking, you're 
talking and, you know, whatever,

941
00:56:40,520 --> 00:56:43,760
you're not being quiet. 
You know, if you're hunting and 

942
00:56:44,320 --> 00:56:47,400
you're being stealthy and quiet 
as you can be, that's when 

943
00:56:47,400 --> 00:56:48,640
you're going to have the 
problem. 

944
00:56:50,200 --> 00:56:52,920
And I told him, I said, you 
know, I haven't lived in a town 

945
00:56:52,920 --> 00:56:57,760
in Montana that we haven't had a
bear in the City Park or in one 

946
00:56:57,760 --> 00:57:01,480
of the schools at some point, 
you know, like we just had a 

947
00:57:01,480 --> 00:57:05,120
bear in the park or in one of 
the schools last week or 

948
00:57:05,120 --> 00:57:07,160
something. 
I said, so you walk out your 

949
00:57:07,160 --> 00:57:11,480
door, you got to be bear aware. 
I said most of those that are 

950
00:57:11,480 --> 00:57:13,880
coming into town are probably 
first time on their own. 

951
00:57:13,880 --> 00:57:16,160
They don't know what the heck 
they're doing looking for food. 

952
00:57:16,440 --> 00:57:18,880
And they found out that people 
are a source of food. 

953
00:57:18,880 --> 00:57:21,440
You know, your garbage is their 
meal. 

954
00:57:22,000 --> 00:57:27,040
So, you know, I tell people all 
the time, I think bears are kind

955
00:57:27,040 --> 00:57:30,480
of like people. 
Some are just you're going to 

956
00:57:30,480 --> 00:57:34,840
have a problem no matter what 
you do, but 99% of them are 

957
00:57:34,840 --> 00:57:37,280
going to go that way just as 
quick as you go that way. 

958
00:57:37,280 --> 00:57:39,480
They don't want any more problem
than you do. 

959
00:57:40,120 --> 00:57:44,680
So I come that close to pet and 
the back black bear come once 

960
00:57:44,680 --> 00:57:47,080
thinking it was a hairy dog. 
Oh geez. 

961
00:57:47,240 --> 00:57:49,880
And it's like the mother was 
across the parking lot from you 

962
00:57:49,880 --> 00:57:52,320
and all I got was a look, and 
she just kept walking. 

963
00:57:52,440 --> 00:57:56,400
Oh, wow. 
So, you know, it's all 

964
00:57:57,360 --> 00:57:59,760
circumstance. 
I got a bad knee from another 

965
00:57:59,760 --> 00:58:03,800
Baron encounter, so really, 
yeah. 

966
00:58:03,800 --> 00:58:05,600
It's not a as good a story 
though. 

967
00:58:06,160 --> 00:58:07,280
It's. 
It's hard. 

968
00:58:07,280 --> 00:58:09,280
I don't have a bad knee from a 
bear encounter so it's better 

969
00:58:09,280 --> 00:58:12,400
than any story I got. 
Well, I went when I got out of 

970
00:58:12,400 --> 00:58:14,680
the Navy. 
I went to hunt and guide school 

971
00:58:14,680 --> 00:58:22,200
out of between Livingston and 
Gardner and the guy let me pay 

972
00:58:22,200 --> 00:58:25,960
it off by working for him that 
winter. 

973
00:58:27,240 --> 00:58:31,800
And so I stayed on after the 
guide school got done and we 

974
00:58:31,800 --> 00:58:36,160
would skin animals and dump all 
our trash in a certain spot and 

975
00:58:36,160 --> 00:58:38,200
all the bears would congregate 
there. 

976
00:58:38,520 --> 00:58:42,680
And when the guide school closed
down, you know, the food source 

977
00:58:42,680 --> 00:58:45,600
wasn't there anymore. 
And this bear was his first year

978
00:58:45,600 --> 00:58:50,520
out on his own and he came to my
cabin that I was staying in. 

979
00:58:50,520 --> 00:58:54,360
I was getting a cabin ready for 
hunting season and and that 

980
00:58:54,360 --> 00:58:57,120
first night he poked his nose 
through the screen and he was 

981
00:58:57,120 --> 00:58:59,080
small enough. 
It's like crap. 

982
00:58:59,160 --> 00:59:01,480
I don't know if he's by himself 
or he's with mom. 

983
00:59:01,480 --> 00:59:04,280
So I closed all the windows and 
locked the doors and everything.

984
00:59:04,960 --> 00:59:08,160
The next morning I went out and 
tracked, found out that he was 

985
00:59:08,160 --> 00:59:12,920
by himself for two weeks. 
He tormented me, chewed the cab 

986
00:59:12,920 --> 00:59:15,080
lights off the truck, chewed the
seat off the floor. 

987
00:59:15,080 --> 00:59:18,880
Wheeler broke into somebody's 
camp trailer there, chased the 

988
00:59:18,880 --> 00:59:22,120
cat up over the roof, and it's 
like I shot him with my rubber 

989
00:59:22,120 --> 00:59:25,440
tipped arrows. 
I shot my guns in the air and he

990
00:59:25,440 --> 00:59:28,240
just kept coming back. 
So I resorted. 

991
00:59:28,240 --> 00:59:31,120
I got a bucket of rocks. 
I'd sit up on the roof and throw

992
00:59:31,120 --> 00:59:32,920
rocks at him when he'd come 
around. 

993
00:59:33,640 --> 00:59:37,120
And then one day I was outside 
linseed oil on the outside of 

994
00:59:37,120 --> 00:59:39,760
the cabin. 
I thought, well, it's time for 

995
00:59:39,760 --> 00:59:41,560
lunch. 
I went to go to lunch and I 

996
00:59:41,560 --> 00:59:43,600
walked by the window. 
I looked in the window and there

997
00:59:43,600 --> 00:59:46,240
he was sitting on my table 
eating my loaf of bread. 

998
00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:49,000
So I opened the front door and 
went in the same window. 

999
00:59:49,000 --> 00:59:53,160
He went in, chased him out, 
grabbed my bucket of rocks and I

1000
00:59:53,160 --> 00:59:55,280
was chasing him, pelting him 
with rocks. 

1001
00:59:55,480 --> 00:59:57,680
I stepped in a Gopher hole and 
twisted my nose. 

1002
01:00:02,880 --> 01:00:04,840
Oh man, that was no dude. 
No hook too. 

1003
01:00:05,600 --> 01:00:07,880
Man. 
That was my second worst bear 

1004
01:00:07,880 --> 01:00:11,160
encounter. 
But the biggest bear I ever saw 

1005
01:00:11,160 --> 01:00:16,680
was when I was 10, and that bear
was so big they still ran cows 

1006
01:00:16,680 --> 01:00:19,160
up in the National Forest first 
back then. 

1007
01:00:19,280 --> 01:00:21,680
And you couldn't tell he was 
laying on a dead couch till he 

1008
01:00:21,680 --> 01:00:24,880
got up to look at us. 
That's how big that one was. 

1009
01:00:25,400 --> 01:00:29,880
I'm 62, and I could barely reach
the bottom of his scratches on 

1010
01:00:29,880 --> 01:00:32,280
trees. 
That's how they marked their 

1011
01:00:32,280 --> 01:00:34,800
territory. 
It's like they scratch as high 

1012
01:00:34,800 --> 01:00:36,560
as they can. 
Another bear comes in the 

1013
01:00:36,560 --> 01:00:38,920
territory and say, oh, I can't 
even reach that. 

1014
01:00:38,920 --> 01:00:40,760
I'm not going to mess with that 
guy, you know? 

1015
01:00:40,760 --> 01:00:45,200
So. 
So yeah, we had bears. 

1016
01:00:45,240 --> 01:00:49,800
We stayed up in those cabins 
that my grandfather had for that

1017
01:00:49,800 --> 01:00:52,120
first summer, and there was 
probably, hell, I don't know, 

1018
01:00:53,960 --> 01:00:58,040
multiple times that we saw very 
grizzly bears and black bears 

1019
01:00:58,040 --> 01:01:00,240
coming through at night and 
whatever. 

1020
01:01:00,240 --> 01:01:05,000
And my brother and I used to 
spend a week up in those cabins 

1021
01:01:05,920 --> 01:01:09,480
every summer for a few years 
just seeing if we can live off 

1022
01:01:09,480 --> 01:01:12,200
the land. 
You know, I learned one thing. 

1023
01:01:12,920 --> 01:01:16,880
If you want a bear to come cook 
bacon for dinner, he'll be there

1024
01:01:16,880 --> 01:01:19,840
by breakfast. 
But we were sitting there eating

1025
01:01:19,840 --> 01:01:23,600
our bacon, lettuce and tomato 
sandwiches and the dogs started 

1026
01:01:23,600 --> 01:01:26,520
going crazy. 
Like, what the heck's wrong with

1027
01:01:26,520 --> 01:01:28,080
him? 
We're looking out the window and

1028
01:01:28,080 --> 01:01:30,520
then we see a bear cross in 
front of the window. 

1029
01:01:31,200 --> 01:01:34,400
It's like whoa. 
And he starts banging on the 

1030
01:01:34,400 --> 01:01:38,040
door trying to get in. 
And the dog ran into the vent 

1031
01:01:38,040 --> 01:01:41,840
and he's still barking. 
And all we had were 20 twos. 

1032
01:01:42,360 --> 01:01:45,560
So we got under the bed and 
we're yelling and screaming and 

1033
01:01:45,760 --> 01:01:48,720
whatever it got out of here and 
it finally took off. 

1034
01:01:49,560 --> 01:01:54,880
But yeah, wow. 
I tell people. 

1035
01:01:54,880 --> 01:01:58,840
A lot of times too, you know, 
bears will usually give you some

1036
01:01:58,840 --> 01:02:02,000
warning when they stand up on 
their ear legs. 

1037
01:02:02,720 --> 01:02:05,320
They're checking you out. 
They're trying to discover what 

1038
01:02:05,320 --> 01:02:07,640
you are, if you're a threat and 
what they're going to do. 

1039
01:02:08,560 --> 01:02:11,280
And when they get down, that's 
when they are deciding, you 

1040
01:02:11,280 --> 01:02:15,000
know, if they go away from you, 
usually you're OK. 

1041
01:02:15,920 --> 01:02:19,120
I, I know, I think it was Todd 
or that wasn't the case. 

1042
01:02:19,280 --> 01:02:23,240
The bear turned around and came 
back and attacked you twice. 

1043
01:02:24,480 --> 01:02:30,000
But it's like usually if they 
turn around, they're going on 

1044
01:02:30,000 --> 01:02:32,640
their merry way. 
You're good to go your way. 

1045
01:02:33,600 --> 01:02:36,400
If they get down, they start 
lunging at you. 

1046
01:02:36,560 --> 01:02:39,080
They're testing you to see what 
you're going to do. 

1047
01:02:39,080 --> 01:02:42,840
And and they're deciding whether
they're coming or not. 

1048
01:02:42,840 --> 01:02:48,520
And that's if they lunge at you,
you better be getting prepared. 

1049
01:02:48,520 --> 01:02:53,000
And and I would say, like others
have said that, you know, one of

1050
01:02:53,000 --> 01:02:56,400
your podcasts that I watched, it
kind of amazed me because he 

1051
01:02:56,400 --> 01:02:59,760
didn't remember hearing or 
hearing things either. 

1052
01:02:59,760 --> 01:03:02,600
You know, it's like, yeah, it's 
funny how the brain works. 

1053
01:03:02,600 --> 01:03:05,480
It's like you don't want to hear
this, you don't want to see 

1054
01:03:05,480 --> 01:03:07,040
this, you don't want to remember
this. 

1055
01:03:07,560 --> 01:03:11,080
Let's just shut it out. 
So it's amazing how the brain 

1056
01:03:11,080 --> 01:03:12,600
works. 
That. 

1057
01:03:13,040 --> 01:03:17,440
Where was I? 
Yeah, well, you were talking 

1058
01:03:17,440 --> 01:03:21,720
about the. 
Other guys that have and what 

1059
01:03:21,720 --> 01:03:24,760
their situations were like, Todd
and that kind of stuff. 

1060
01:03:24,760 --> 01:03:28,400
Have you talked to Todd? 
No, no, I haven't talked to any.

1061
01:03:28,400 --> 01:03:30,880
Better survivors. 
And, you know, that's one of the

1062
01:03:30,880 --> 01:03:35,680
things that I've had a question 
about ever since mine was, you 

1063
01:03:35,680 --> 01:03:39,200
know, are bears like some other 
animals once they get the taste 

1064
01:03:39,200 --> 01:03:42,360
of human blood? 
That's, you know, it's like my 

1065
01:03:42,360 --> 01:03:47,280
experience that bear had to 
think, man, especially if he 

1066
01:03:47,280 --> 01:03:50,200
would have killed me, that was a
lot easier than killing that 

1067
01:03:50,200 --> 01:03:51,920
deer. 
I didn't have to run or weren't 

1068
01:03:51,920 --> 01:03:54,400
near as hard to kill this guy as
I did that. 

1069
01:03:54,400 --> 01:03:57,240
And there's not as much meat, 
But boy, that was easy. 

1070
01:03:59,240 --> 01:04:03,120
Or if they get a taste of human 
blood, if they want it, and they

1071
01:04:03,240 --> 01:04:06,480
end up attacking more people. 
And you know, I don't know if 

1072
01:04:06,480 --> 01:04:09,880
they even, I don't think they 
collared that bear or if that 

1073
01:04:09,880 --> 01:04:13,640
bear was collared. 
I don't remember seeing the 

1074
01:04:13,640 --> 01:04:17,640
collar. 
All I remember is that big head.

1075
01:04:18,560 --> 01:04:24,960
Wow. 
Do you remember some of the guys

1076
01:04:24,960 --> 01:04:26,480
that I talked to? 
That have been attacked. 

1077
01:04:26,880 --> 01:04:30,480
They tell me that they remember 
what the bear felt like as far 

1078
01:04:30,480 --> 01:04:33,920
as like what it felt like, and 
it's what it smelled like. 

1079
01:04:34,280 --> 01:04:36,240
Did you do you, did you 
experience anything like that at

1080
01:04:36,240 --> 01:04:37,720
all? 
Well, I tell people all the 

1081
01:04:37,720 --> 01:04:41,080
time, I said well. 
Usually you can hear a bear or 

1082
01:04:41,080 --> 01:04:44,680
smell a bear before you see him 
a lot of times, because unless 

1083
01:04:44,680 --> 01:04:48,600
they're hunting you or actually 
physically hunting, you know, 

1084
01:04:48,600 --> 01:04:52,480
they're not terribly quiet. 
It's like they're breaking logs 

1085
01:04:52,480 --> 01:04:56,280
and ripping up stumps and 
turning rocks over and, you 

1086
01:04:56,280 --> 01:04:59,000
know, unless they're actually 
physically stalking something, 

1087
01:04:59,000 --> 01:05:01,760
they're not really quiet. 
And they smell. 

1088
01:05:02,360 --> 01:05:05,080
They're like, oh really? 
It's like, yeah, what do they 

1089
01:05:05,080 --> 01:05:08,400
smell like? 
Well, yeah, put a dumpster and a

1090
01:05:08,400 --> 01:05:10,840
boys locker room together. 
That's what they smell. 

1091
01:05:12,080 --> 01:05:14,080
All right, fair enough. 
So yeah, if. 

1092
01:05:14,080 --> 01:05:15,400
You smell a bear. 
It's like. 

1093
01:05:16,360 --> 01:05:20,040
You know, I smell elk all the 
time when I'm out there and I'll

1094
01:05:20,040 --> 01:05:23,320
stop on my snowmobile and people
are like, what are you stopping 

1095
01:05:23,320 --> 01:05:26,080
for? 
Well, I just caught a whiff of 

1096
01:05:26,080 --> 01:05:27,880
elk. 
There's some elk in the area 

1097
01:05:27,880 --> 01:05:34,600
here somewhere and but I didn't,
I don't remember smelling him or

1098
01:05:35,960 --> 01:05:39,960
hearing him or feeling him stiff
on my chest or biting my arm or 

1099
01:05:39,960 --> 01:05:43,120
leg. 
It was just the jaws. 

1100
01:05:43,120 --> 01:05:47,200
The only thing I how felt in 
your mind how fast? 

1101
01:05:47,200 --> 01:05:49,040
Was this whole situation. 
Or did it feel? 

1102
01:05:49,040 --> 01:05:53,720
Like it was slow motion for you 
it it's like a car accident or 

1103
01:05:53,720 --> 01:05:57,080
anything else. 
Traumatic to me it was like it 

1104
01:05:57,080 --> 01:06:00,960
was in the blink of the eye and 
it seemed to take forever. 

1105
01:06:01,840 --> 01:06:07,120
So it's like it was a matter of 
seconds probably from when I 

1106
01:06:07,120 --> 01:06:10,880
first saw him to the first 
initial attack was probably 2 

1107
01:06:10,880 --> 01:06:15,640
seconds and the whole attack 
probably only lasted it was less

1108
01:06:15,680 --> 01:06:19,400
than a minute. 
Wow, I give my. 

1109
01:06:19,400 --> 01:06:23,360
Kids crap all the time. 
I say, well, you know, they're 

1110
01:06:23,440 --> 01:06:28,040
my son. 
My youngest son just got out of 

1111
01:06:28,040 --> 01:06:31,720
prison. 
He's had problems with drugs 

1112
01:06:31,720 --> 01:06:34,880
since he was 12 and been in and 
out of. 

1113
01:06:34,960 --> 01:06:37,360
He's 27 now. 
He's been in and out of jail, 

1114
01:06:37,360 --> 01:06:42,240
prisoner detention pretty much 
at least half the time from 12 

1115
01:06:42,240 --> 01:06:47,040
to 27. 
And, you know, anytime he's 

1116
01:06:47,040 --> 01:06:49,320
like, dad, you got a couple 
bucks I can borrow. 

1117
01:06:49,760 --> 01:06:51,880
It's like, what would you have 
done if I'd have died? 

1118
01:06:52,640 --> 01:06:55,080
You know, you guys got to 
prepare yourself to be able to 

1119
01:06:55,080 --> 01:06:57,320
handle yourself without me being
here. 

1120
01:06:57,840 --> 01:07:00,320
And what's going to happen to my
business if I'm gone? 

1121
01:07:01,120 --> 01:07:04,600
You know, if you keep choosing 
the life that you're choosing, 

1122
01:07:05,680 --> 01:07:07,720
you can't run it while you're in
prison. 

1123
01:07:10,040 --> 01:07:13,760
You know, my youngest daughter 
that has the grandkids, she 

1124
01:07:13,760 --> 01:07:16,040
struggles sometimes with 
finances. 

1125
01:07:16,040 --> 01:07:22,200
You know, she's a single mom and
works three days a week and, you

1126
01:07:22,200 --> 01:07:23,600
know, doesn't make a lot of 
money. 

1127
01:07:23,600 --> 01:07:26,960
She makes more money with me 
than she does working her other 

1128
01:07:26,960 --> 01:07:30,360
job. 
So it's like, what are you going

1129
01:07:30,360 --> 01:07:33,000
to do when I'm not here? 
You know, you got to figure your

1130
01:07:33,000 --> 01:07:37,600
life out and and get your ducks 
in a row. 

1131
01:07:37,600 --> 01:07:41,800
So when I do go, you're ready. 
I don't know. 

1132
01:07:41,800 --> 01:07:45,080
That's another thing that I 
thought about was, you know, I 

1133
01:07:45,080 --> 01:07:48,840
just went to a little seminar at
one of the funeral homes in 

1134
01:07:49,680 --> 01:07:54,400
Bozeman pre planning your 
funeral and pre paying for it 

1135
01:07:54,400 --> 01:07:57,920
and getting it all laid out so 
your family doesn't have to 

1136
01:07:57,920 --> 01:08:00,560
worry about that. 
I said, you know, then like a 

1137
01:08:00,560 --> 01:08:05,360
near death experience to make 
you think about, you know, maybe

1138
01:08:05,360 --> 01:08:08,920
I should do what my dad didn't 
do and kind of plan for this to 

1139
01:08:08,920 --> 01:08:12,600
happen. 
You know that it's not well, am 

1140
01:08:12,600 --> 01:08:15,680
I going to leave my wife with no
money and the VA is not going to

1141
01:08:15,680 --> 01:08:18,920
give her my benefits and it's 
not get everything lined out. 

1142
01:08:18,920 --> 01:08:21,600
So when you do go, it's ready to
go. 

1143
01:08:22,600 --> 01:08:28,000
When you went in the hospital 
and you said they did all this 

1144
01:08:28,000 --> 01:08:30,600
surgery in one day and you were 
the first to do that. 

1145
01:08:30,840 --> 01:08:33,399
What kind of like nerve recovery
have you been? 

1146
01:08:33,399 --> 01:08:36,200
On like the. 
Pain and everything along with 

1147
01:08:36,200 --> 01:08:38,080
that. 
There's no feeling there. 

1148
01:08:38,359 --> 01:08:40,520
Do you have any feeling up 
through your face at all? 

1149
01:08:41,120 --> 01:08:43,920
My face is all. 
Good, I've got. 

1150
01:08:43,920 --> 01:08:48,120
Numbness from this hole here, my
left arm and left thumb are 

1151
01:08:48,120 --> 01:08:52,720
still numb. 
That finger's probably 75% back.

1152
01:08:53,040 --> 01:08:56,279
My whole hand was numb from that
tooth hole, just one tooth hole 

1153
01:08:56,279 --> 01:08:58,720
there. 
And that was the skin graft they

1154
01:08:58,720 --> 01:09:04,000
did to try and do a lip, but 
there's another two tooth hole 

1155
01:09:04,000 --> 01:09:06,399
there. 
He hit a nerve just right there 

1156
01:09:06,399 --> 01:09:10,439
that you know, that whole hand 
and arm was numb and it's still 

1157
01:09:10,439 --> 01:09:13,040
coming back. 
They're like, it's a good sign 

1158
01:09:13,040 --> 01:09:15,640
that you're, you've got feeling 
back to three of the five 

1159
01:09:15,640 --> 01:09:17,680
fingers because that means it's 
healing. 

1160
01:09:18,120 --> 01:09:20,640
It just takes time. 
You may not get it all back. 

1161
01:09:20,640 --> 01:09:23,080
You may get it all back, it'll 
just take time. 

1162
01:09:23,520 --> 01:09:27,000
My left leg, I don't have 
feeling down most of my left leg

1163
01:09:27,000 --> 01:09:29,800
and my toes are pretty much 
numb. 

1164
01:09:30,600 --> 01:09:34,040
In fact, if I took my sock off, 
you'd see my big toes curled up 

1165
01:09:34,040 --> 01:09:36,040
like that. 
It's hard to straighten it out, 

1166
01:09:37,479 --> 01:09:41,800
but it's funny because I haven't
done much rehab. 

1167
01:09:42,720 --> 01:09:48,520
I didn't do much speech therapy.
The lady talked to me one day on

1168
01:09:48,520 --> 01:09:52,720
speech therapy and told me what 
to practice and what to do and 

1169
01:09:53,640 --> 01:09:56,920
physical therapy. 
As soon as I started walking and

1170
01:09:56,920 --> 01:10:02,960
keep walk, I I was, you know, 
starting with a stroller or 

1171
01:10:02,960 --> 01:10:08,640
whatever and walking around the 
hospital and and then I get 

1172
01:10:08,640 --> 01:10:12,480
without the stroller and then 
it's like upstairs and 

1173
01:10:12,480 --> 01:10:17,080
downstairs and and it's like 
once I can walk up a flight of 

1174
01:10:17,080 --> 01:10:18,680
stairs so that you're good to 
go. 

1175
01:10:20,400 --> 01:10:23,360
Well, final word anything. 
Well, if I. 

1176
01:10:23,360 --> 01:10:25,120
Can get them, do you listen, 
I'll hunt that one. 

1177
01:10:26,840 --> 01:10:29,160
I'll, I'll, I told them I'll win
Round 2. 

1178
01:10:29,960 --> 01:10:33,520
I've not only got the 357, I got
a 10 mil and a 45. 

1179
01:10:33,520 --> 01:10:38,560
There you go. 
So, you know, be. 

1180
01:10:38,560 --> 01:10:41,840
Prepared good well I. 
Appreciate you doing this. 

1181
01:10:41,840 --> 01:10:42,520
You bet. 
I. 

1182
01:10:42,520 --> 01:10:44,760
Appreciate it your your story is
incredible and. 

1183
01:10:44,760 --> 01:10:48,160
Thanks for being. 
Here and yeah, it's an amazing 

1184
01:10:48,160 --> 01:10:48,600
story.