Manitoba woman survives wolf attack

[La Striata]

A Manitoba woman credits a childhood lesson for saving her life when she was attacked and bitten by a wolf at the side of a highway.

Dawn Hepp was driving along Highway 6 near Grand Rapids on March 8 when she pulled over to help another driver.

When she walked over to the car, a wolf lunged at her.

“His face and his jaws were around my neck … so it was his fur I can feel on my face," she said.

"I could just hear my dad saying, 'stay calm Dawn, stay calm Dawn.' So what I did was I just stayed calm, I didn't yell, I didn't scream.

"He dug a little deeper with that tooth and by the larynx, whether he couldn't get a good enough grip or what, he let go."

At that moment, Hepp jumped into her car and pulled up next to the people in the other vehicle she had stopped to help.

"I rolled down my window and said, 'You guys are OK? I've gotta go. I've gotta get to the nearest hospital,'" she said.

"I just said, 'I gotta get going', and they said, 'Yeah, we were worried about you.'"

Remaining calm, Hepp drove herself to the hospital in Ashern and was treated for puncture wounds and rabies.

Ken Rebizant is with Manitoba Conservation and said the animal could have been hungry or sick.

"It is very rare. I have been with wildlife branch for 25 years, and this is the first case that I have heard of of this kind in Manitoba," said Rebizant.

Grand Rapids is located about 415 kilometres north of Winnipeg.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/manitoba/ ... itoba.html

WARNING: The URL contains images of the victim's neck injuries.

I guess the woman's testimony could educate people as to what to do during such a situation. It must however be stressed that this animal was acting alone. Whether or not such a tactic would work against a pack is another matter entirely.

[Unlucky 13]

Good to hear she survived. Seems that it'd be pretty good idea if more people were taught about how to defend themselves from wolves or any harmful animal. She was indeed fortunate that it was just the one wolf - the tactic she used most likely would've not worked with more than just one.

[BlackWarrior]

This is quite a story! It's definitely not common for a wolf to simply attack a person on the side of the road for any reason. They did say it was either hungry or sick, but either way, this lady is lucky to have survived. The wolf could have done much further damage than it did, and although it was capable of, I think this woman's response to the situation probably saved her life.

I was surprised to hear just how calmly she acted throughout the attack and her quick clear-thinking actions afterwards. Thanks for sharing, La Striata!

[wolflovingperson]

Good to hear she survived. Seems that it'd be pretty good idea if more people were taught about how to defend themselves from wolves or any harmful animal. She was indeed fortunate that it was just the one wolf - the tactic she used most likely would've not worked with more than just one.

And protect ourselves from other humans. O.O XD

[alethe]

Very interesting survival story, thanks for sharing!