“I did a somersault over him,” a Canadian cyclist crashed with a bear

2023-05-21 16:12:27

The nature reserve where the accident happened had to be closed before, after a black bear bit a 10-year-old girl.

A Canadian man suffered a broken shoulder blade, a bruised heart and broken ribs after he collided with a black bear while cycling in a nature reserve north of Vancouver – writes a Guardian.

Kevin Milner was cycling in the Lower Seymour Conservation Area near Vancouver when he saw the black bear in the grass. Wild animals, including deer, are common along the densely forested dual carriageway.

However, instead of ignoring the cyclist, the bear ran up to him and attacked him. The man collided head-on with the animal’s shoulder, then flew into the air.

I did a somersault over it. I pretty much kissed the bear and then I think I flew over it in the air

– He told Milner to the North Shore News. The 30-year-old man hit his side hard, and the bear was probably also scared and fled into the forest immediately after the accident.

Lying in the road, swimming in blood from his injuries, three other cyclists helped Milner. One of them stayed with him, and the other two hikers looked for a place with a field strength and notified the authorities.

The cyclist who suffered the accident was spitting up blood, could not walk properly and could not even lift his legs, and while he and his helper were waiting for the rescuers, they were horrified to notice that the bear had returned.

Milner likened the collision to a truck crash and thought it was going to die even before the animal returned, but luckily for them the bear only returned to the scene of the accident to graze on grass.

Increasingly worried about his injuries, Milner then borrowed his assistant’s electric bike to get to a shelter. He rode the bike carefully, holding the engine with one hand and pushing the throttle forward with the thumb on his injured arm.

When paramedics arrived, Milner was taken to Vancouver’s Lions Gate Hospital, where he was treated for his injuries and even fanned around a bit after word of his unusual accident spread.

Interactions between bears and humans occur relatively frequently in nature, and dangerous encounters are relatively rare. Last year, however, the province of British Columbia had to close the entire Lower Seymour Nature Reserve once after a black bear bit a 10-year-old girl walking on a hiking trail.

I cycled through the forest to escape the traffic. But after I hit the bear, it’s probably safer to ride between cars instead

– said Kevin Milner, recovering from the accident.