Mom of 3 attacked, dragged 100 yards by brown bear after stepping out of home
A 36-year-old mother of three is recovering in the hospital after being mauled and dragged by a brown bear just outside her home in Kenai, Alaska.
Ariean Fabrizio Colton had just stepped out for an early morning jog around 5 a.m. when the bear charged from a neighboring property and attacked her roughly 150 feet from her house. The animal dragged her about 100 yards before a nearby resident discovered her in his yard, severely injured but conscious, according to Alaska Wildlife Trooper David Looring.
“He heard the barking, wolfing sound of a bear,” Looring told KTUU. “He thought it had gotten a dog or something. Later in the daylight, he went to check and found her in the woods.”
Colton, a nurse who had recently moved to southern Alaska, suffered extensive injuries to her face and scalp and was airlifted nearly three hours away to a hospital in Anchorage for emergency surgery.
“She is stable, but has suffered severe injuries that will require extensive surgeries and a long hospital stay,” her family shared on a GoFundMe page, which has raised over $63,700 as of Saturday. Doctors remain optimistic about her recovery, though the journey ahead will be long.
Wildlife officials believe a brown bear was responsible for the attack based on tracks found at the scene, though the animal has not been located. Residents are urged to stay alert as bears become more active while preparing for winter.
“If you’re going into the woods, make sure you can hear your surroundings,” Looring advised. “Even something as simple as leaving one AirPod out can make a difference.”
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