Bear attack survivor shares death-defying story in exclusive interview

Melinda LeBarron gingerly shifted her petite 107-pound frame back into her new dark brown couch while nervously holding onto graphic photographs taken of her on Dec. 12 — the night she and her dog were viciously attacked by a black bear outside her rural Montgomery home.

In the images, LeBarron’s face is bloody and bloated, her right ear is partially torn off and a large part of her scalp is missing.

Eighty-three days later — and exactly a month after her Feb. 6 discharge from Geisinger Medical Center — she is left with numerous scars from a series of surgeries and skin grafts on her head.

Scars, and the terrifying memories of her encounter with an estimated 250-pound black bear.

“What her intentions were (that night), I have no idea. She was not nice about it — she wasn’t just dragging me like a dead animal, taking me down to feed on me,” LeBarron said. “She rolled me, she clawed at me. I told her a couple of times out loud to just stop. It hurt so bad.”

Gruesome attackOn Wednesday, Dec. 12, LeBarron’s husband, Sid, was away from home running an errand. She decided to take out her 2-year-old Pekingese-Chihuahua mix, coincidentally named Bear, and smoke her evening cigarette before her favorite 8 p.m. television shows started.

“I looked outside to make sure there was nothing she (the dog) would chase. I didn’t see anything.,” LeBarron said. “I heard a bunch of growling and carrying on and I stepped out onto a flatter part of the patio. Bear (the dog) came back, but out of the corner of my eye, I saw something black and her claws came down on top of me and smacked me to the ground.”

LeBarron didn’t know how to respond.

“There was no getting up, there was no getting away from her. She just started clawing me, working on the top of my head and started dragging me through our yard,” she said. “She just kept pulling on me with her claws and her teeth and I heard her biting into my head.”

After being dragged an estimated 88 to 90 yards across the road and into a brushy field, LeBarron was dropped by the bear, which stood there for a few moments and let out a low growl before walking off.

“I thought maybe if I laid still, she would walk away and leave me alone. I laid there a little bit, wondering if she was coming back for me,” LeBarron said. “I looked up to see how far I was away from my house. I saw the silhouette of our maple tree, my car, our porch light and the outline of the flower bed.”

LeBarron slowly made her way back to her house wearing just her shirt and jacket, focused on making it inside and wanting to see if her dog was OK. When she made it inside, LeBarron noticed the back door was open, and looked outside for signs of Bear before realizing how bad of shape she was in and that she needed to take care of herself. She called her landlord who lives nearby and came to help right away.

“I thought I was dying. Luckily, the EMTs were here in a split second. They acted like they were astonished when they saw me,” LeBarron remembered.

Medical miracleLeBarron received nine surgeries and was treated by more than 100 people during her eight-week stay at Geisinger Medical Center — most of which was spent in the Intensive Care Unit.

“She came in with many medical issues. She had a clavicle fracture, facial fractures of her cheekbone, sinuses and jaw, multiple rib fractures and numerous abrasions,” said Dr. Denise Torres, head of Geisinger’s trauma program. “However, the biggest thing that caused the most issues was that a large amount of her scalp was pulled off her skull. There was so much potential contamination there — the infection risk was very high.”

Torres has treated a few scalping injuries, but this was the first involving a bear attack.

“I’m not a bear attack expert, but apparently what bears do is grab the head and swing it around and most people die from a broken neck,” Torres said. “Melinda had neck surgery in the past and had a number of metal rods in her neck and back. This may have been what saved her. However, instead of the neck breaking, her scalp came off.”

Of LeBarron’s nine surgeries with Geisinger, most of them were with the plastic surgeon who layered membrane, skin grafts and a collagen replacement system that helped promote the growth of her own skin.

“She is unlikely to have hair grow back there — her identity may be forever changed, but the rest of her has been doing so well. For anyone to overcome something like this takes a certain amount of courage, attitude and willingness to get better,” Torres said. “Support from her family and friends definitely played a part in her situation going so well.”

Overwhelming supportLeBarron is forever grateful to the Geisinger team for its treatment.

“They saved my life that night,” she said. “No one likes being in the hospital, and it was definitely very tough, but the staff at Geisinger made it the best they could. My eighth grandchild was born on Feb. 2 while I was in there, and they let me go to the room and spend the night and see him being born.”

Bear was discovered whimpering under a bed in the LeBarron home by different neighbors the night of the attack. They wrapped her in a towel and rushed her to the veterinarian for care.

“She was in bad shape and had lost a lot of blood. If they hadn’t acted so quickly, she probably wouldn’t have made it,” LeBarron said. “They even paid part of the veterinary bill.”

Despite a fractured sternum, punctured lung and numerous deep lacerations, Dr. Tristan Wilhelm said that the dog’s most critical issue was blood loss.

“She had lost so much blood. It reached the point where she almost needed a transfusion,” he said. “The loss of blood and the bleeding into her lungs were extremely concerning. Fortunately, her body kicked back in just in time and she didn’t require major intervention.”

He admitted that the community’s support was overwhelming — not just for Bear and for his team, but for the family.

“All the support is amazing,” said Wilhelm. “This community is caring and invested. People are making donations — we’ve even seen donations come in from out of state. It has been an amazing thing to be a part of — this is why we do what we do. It has all just been so inspiring.”

LeBarron — who enjoys going outside to feed her ducks, but only in full daylight, and who has had numerous motion-activating floodlights added to her property — agreed.

“How do you thank so many people? It goes beyond words. I have gotten messages from people from other states — people I don’t even know who say they are praying for me and pulling for me,” she said. “How do you repay that?”

For now, the plan is to continue recovering and enjoying her family as much as possible.

“My husband has been really good, protecting me and doing stuff around the house like laundry. The kids have been helping out running me to doctor appointments,” said LeBarron, who recently was cleared to resume driving on her own. “And my grandkids — they are the ones who really pushed me through my hospital stay.

“I should have died that night, but obviously someone up there — it has to be God — has a purpose for me. I don’t know what that is yet, but for now, I’m going to enjoy my family and appreciate the second chance I’ve been given.”