Bear attack survivor wrote chilling final note to loved ones after picking up pieces of his own flesh

Between Claw and Mercy: Jeremy Evans’ Brush with Death

On August 24, 2017, in the forests of Alberta, Jeremy Evans set out to hunt a ram, but instead faced a life-or-death encounter. An experienced hunter, he was unprepared for what emerged from the trees.

Through his binoculars, Evans spotted a bighorn ram, but then noticed a massive mother grizzly charging toward him. “I knew exactly what it was, and I knew I was in trouble,” he later recalled.

The bear closed in within ten feet. Evans grabbed his bear spray too late and attempted to use his mountain bike as a shield, climbing a tree, but the bear caught his leg and dragged him down.

The attack left him grievously injured. “My left eye was hanging out, my jaw split, my teeth exposed,” Evans said. Alone, half-blind, and broken, he believed his life was over. He tried to use his rifle to end the pain — but it jammed, forcing a critical choice.

In that moment between despair and survival, Evans decided to fight. He dragged himself 22 kilometers toward safety, sending messages he feared might be his last to his wife. Exhausted and bleeding, he reached help and collapsed, alive.

After five weeks and multiple surgeries, Evans emerged forever changed. He had confronted death and discovered that survival comes not from strength alone, but from surrender and perseverance.

Evans’ story reminds us that life’s wilderness can strip away control, leaving us between life and loss. True survival often arrives when all tools fail, and from the stillness between pain and prayer, one learns what it means to truly live.