Wes Perkins, a former fire chief in Nome, Alaska, was permanently disfigured in a 2011 bear attack and now dedicates himself to supporting other bear mauling victims. His story comes amid recent attacks, including one where a 27-year-old caribou hunter, Jadon Nicoara, suffered life-threatening injuries when a brown bear charged him from behind.
Recent Attacks and Survival Stories
In the attack on Jadon Nicoara, the bear bit into his face, crushing pieces of his skull before his hunting partner shot the animal. Jadon was fighting for his life during an emergency medevac flight and intensive surgery in August, and is now stable.
In April, two US Army soldiers from the 11th Airborne Division suffered severe injuries during a land navigation exercise when they accidentally stumbled into a brown bear den. Both were severely mauled.
Wes Perkins' Own Ordeal
Wes was hunting with two "dear" friends when he encountered a bear. "When I stopped I was too close to it, I was only, like, 70 feet away from it," he said. In an instant, the bear turned on him and tore into his face while his friends, Dan Stang, a Nome-based dentist, and his son, Edward, managed to shoot the bear.
The beast ripped into his nose, jaw, and skull, but the trio managed to get Wes helicoptered out, and he was flown to emergency surgery in Seattle.
Recovery and Helping Others
For three painful months, Wes tried to recover physically and mentally. He said: "When I came home in October that year, I still had the wounds here at home, so it was a long process. It’s a long healing process. I was on all sorts of pain medications and opioids, so I also had some issues with drug addiction."
Wes's efforts to help other victims have worked. He connected with a younger man on Facebook from Dillingham who was hospitalized after a bear attack. He explained: "He was going through some of the pain issues that I went through. Not feeling like he was getting enough pain management. But, you know, they have restrictions to how much they can give you, so I try to help watch him through it and show him it takes time. Healing is a slow process in this situation."
Wes remains keen to reach out to those injured, saying, "I’d like to reach out to her and say, ‘Hey, if I can help you, or if there’s anything I can do to comfort you, reach out to me. And I’m available to do whatever I can do to help out.’"
