The Bear's Embrace

An extraordinary story of survival and recovery by a woman who was attacked by a grizzly bear. On a sunny fall day in 1983, Patricia Van Tighem and her husband, Trevor, began a hiking trip in the Canadian Rockies with a two-thousand-foot climb through rocks and forest. The next morning, in a landscape dusted by snow, they crossed paths with a grizzly bear–and their lives were forever changed. That Van Tighem survived at all is a miracle, and her account of the attack is vivid...
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An extraordinary story of survival and recovery by a woman who was attacked by a grizzly bear. On a sunny fall day in 1983, Patricia Van Tighem and her husband, Trevor, began a hiking trip in the Canadian Rockies with a two-thousand-foot climb through rocks and forest. The next morning, in a landscape dusted by snow, they crossed paths with a grizzly bear–and their lives were forever changed. That Van Tighem survived at all is a miracle, and her account of the attack is vivid and startling. But her recovery was just as disturbing: Her numerous reconstructive surgeries were painful; her facial disfigurement isolated her; and the nightmares that haunted her carried their own psychological burden. Yet she was eventually able to accept her unthinkable experiences, and to put her life back together as a survivor, a wife, and a mother. With honesty and eloquence,The Bear’s Embracetells of the unpredictability of life, of bravery, terror, rage and love, of what it means to look and feel different in a culture that values perfection. Uncommonly affecting, often astonishing,The Bear’s Embraceis an inspiring story of human perseverance and self-knowledge.