14-year-old Evert after the attack: “So I poked the bear”

It was in the western parts of Ljusdal municipality that the bear attack took place. The hunter Pär and his son Evert were out in the forest on an ordinary bear hunt – but the hunt did not go as planned. After a slow start, a 137 kilo female appeared among the trees. When Pär was about to shoot the bear, their dog first got in the way and then the bear managed to attack.

– She bundled me up like a little kid and threw me to the ground, says Pär.

He understood immediately that things were going really badly.

– I hardly had time to think, it was like surviving. But I probably had time to think that this was not good, says Pär.

Gave the bear blow after blow

But then the unexpected happened – Evert jumped on the bear to defend his father. Pär tells about how he witnessed how the son starts to fight with the bear and give the animal blow after blow. The son himself tells how the incident caused emotions to bubble up inside him.

– I didn’t think, I was freaked out. I got so angry that I don’t remember anything, he says, showing how he hit the bear with a straight right.

Thanks to Evert’s help, Pär managed to shoot the bear. On the ground some distance away, they found Evert’s glasses and Pär’s nose and cheek.

– It looked like a tongue. Then I picked it up and realized that they had sideburns and reddish-brown beards, then I understood that it was mine, says Pär.

“You have to go on again”

Pär and Evert were taken to different hospitals, the father with parts of his face torn away and the son with wrist fractures and lacerations. Despite severe injuries and a tough event, Evert doesn’t think it will affect him that much.

– I don’t think about it, but the next time I see a bear we’ll see how I react, says Evert and adds that he will be out in the forest next bear season.

Pär has had to reconstruct large parts of his face and is far from recovered. But like his son, he is determined not to stop hunting and is already back in the forest.

– I think you have to go on again. There is a greater risk of winning the Lotto two weeks in a row than the attack happening again, it’s not exactly common, says Pär.