What was supposed to be a peaceful day on Glacier National Park’s Grinnell Glacier Trail turned into a full-on fight for survival for San Carlos hiker Daniel Crago, who walked away from a grizzly attack with a shattered arm and a new lease on life.
Crago was trekking along a snowy stretch of trail when a grizzly clamped onto his arm and dragged him across a slope, tearing up his forearm and leaving it badly injured. Fellow hikers, including a doctor who happened to be on scene, jumped in to help, stabilizing him on the mountain before he was airlifted to a hospital in Kalispell, where surgeons have been working to repair multiple fractures. Crago has said he is simply grateful to be alive and to the strangers who refused to leave him behind.
Speaking with ABC 10News, Crago recounted spotting a grizzly cub about 40 feet away on the slope. A moment later, he noticed a larger bear roughly 15 feet above him on the slanted terrain. When he called out to alert the animals, the larger grizzly charged. He told the outlet the bear locked its jaws around his arm and dragged him more than 20 feet before letting go and running off. Other hikers rushed in, applied a tourniquet, kept watch in case the bears returned, and coordinated a call for help…