B.C. cyclist seriously injured after colliding with a bear: ‘It all happened so fast’ | 24CA News
It’s a narrative with a distinctly Canadian twist.
But North Vancouver resident Kevin Milner mentioned he’s fortunate to be alive.
“I thought I was in a worse situation, and it turned out to be,” Milner advised Global News Thursday.
He was using his bike in Seymour’s Demonstration Forest and had simply handed the six-kilometre mark the place the highway begins to go downhill and he began to choose up velocity.
“I was going around the corner, really tight corner,” he mentioned. “And as soon as I was coming around the corner, I look to my left and immediately there was a bear.”
Milner mentioned the bear was on the grass on the left aspect of the highway and he was on the correct aspect.
“When I saw him, I didn’t have much time to react,” Milner mentioned. “I thought about braking, but then I would have ended up right next to the bear, which I thought would have startled him pretty bad and potentially provoked an attack, which I was concerned about.”
So Milner determined to simply hold going however the bear appeared to have the identical thought.
“I guess he looked at me. He accelerated extremely fast and he just headed right for me, just directly across the road, right in front of my path,” he mentioned.
“I couldn’t believe how quickly he picked up speed. And he just pulled right in front of me and I caught him right behind the shoulder blades.”
Kevin Milner suffered severe accidents after he hit a bear whereas using his bike.
Submitted by Kevin Milner
Milner launched excessive of the bear, went flying by way of the air, nonetheless hooked up to his bike and landed on the bottom.
He mentioned he couldn’t stand up, couldn’t transfer his neck or his head.
“It all happened so fast,” he defined. “But after I landed and I was on the ground, my bike was probably like 15 feet in front of me.”
Milner mentioned the bear began working away so he wasn’t nervous about being attacked however he was nervous that he was very badly injured.
“I couldn’t move or it’s like I had some internal bleeding going on because my whole left side (was), and it still is, completely numb to the touch. It’s like rubber all the way down to my upper thigh and up into my ribcage. And so I was definitely more concerned about my injuries. I couldn’t move, couldn’t move my arm. And so my whole left side was shut down pretty hard.”
It was getting late and Milner mentioned he hadn’t seen anyone else.
However, fortunately one other bike rider got here alongside on an e-bike and noticed Milner mendacity on the highway.
They tried calling 911 however there was no sign. Two ladies then confirmed up and so they mentioned they might experience to the doorway to attempt to get a sign to name for an ambulance, Milner defined.
“While they were gone, I was getting attacked by mosquitoes,” he mentioned. “And I couldn’t fend them off because I couldn’t move,” he added.
That’s when the bear got here again.
Milner mentioned it was sniffing the air and them. The different rider began yelling and scaring the bear in order that it could depart.
“And the bear just kind of looked at him like, you know, like, ‘What’s your problem?’” he mentioned.
The bear didn’t depart and simply began consuming the grass once more, Milner mentioned and it appeared he was desirous about what occurred.
That’s when the duo determined Milner wanted to get some assist quick. He might see some blood in his spit and was nervous about inner accidents.
The different rider managed to assist him up and put Milner on his e-bike.
“And then I was just riding this bike back with one arm on the handlebar, and I had this thumb just on the throttle, which is pretty difficult because my face screwed up and I just threw all the way back, ended up passing the girls that went to call for help,” he mentioned.
Kevin Milner’s bike after he collided with a bear.
submitted by Kevin Milner
Milner made it to the doorway however couldn’t raise his leg off the bike and he couldn’t stroll.
The two ladies then confirmed up and with their assist, Milner was in a position to put the bike down sideways and drag his foot throughout the body to dismount.
He began calling everybody he might for assist and the ladies referred to as 911.
Milner was rushed to the hospital.
Turns out he fractured his scapula, he has a cardiac contusion, and bruised ribs and is so badly bruised and swollen he mentioned he seems like he gained 40 kilos in a single day.
He spent the evening within the hospital for statement.
“People were coming up and asking me, ‘Are you the guy that crashed into the bear?’,” he mentioned. “(The doctors) told me they’d never heard anything like it.”
Milner is now recovering at house and can be off work for some time.
He mentioned the entire expertise was such a surreal one and he by no means anticipated that he wouldn’t have the ability to keep away from crashing right into a bear.
But, Milner added, as his boss advised him when he referred to as in sick, “Nothing you can do about a bear.”
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