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DEC 23, 2003 THE RECORD (WATERLOO REGION) PAGE: A4
Action to save 2 from polar bear honoured
Canadian Press
A Quebec man was awarded a Carnegie Medal for bravery yesterday for saving two friends by fighting off a polar bear with a pocket knife two years ago on Baffin Island.
Dr. Eric Fortier, 34, of Gatineau, Que., used a pocket knife to attack a polar bear on Baffin Island, just south of the Arctic Circle, to save two friends who were being mauled.
"All of the research and all of the preparation I did leading up to the trip gave no indication that there were bears in the Soper (River) valley where we were canoeing," Fortier said.
Fortier, an orthodontist, learned there was at least one polar bear in the central region of Baffin Island in July 2001 when he felt what he thought was a dog leaning on his tent wall.
"My first thought was to push it away," he said. "A few seconds later my girlfriend saw the shadow of a bear's paw through the tent fly and then it started ripping through the ceiling."
The polar bear is more dangerous than most bears, who consider human beings a threat. The polar bear considers humans a snack, experts say.
The two screamed to frighten the bear and warn their friends in a tent several metres away but the bear ripped into that tent and began mauling 31-year-old Alain Parenteau.
"I grabbed my glasses and my knife and unzipped my tent and headed out," Fortier said.
The bear dwarfed the 6-foot-1 Parenteau, knocking him to the ground. Fortier threw a large rock at the bear, distracting it and allowing Parenteau to escape but it then turned on Patricia Doyon, 25, who was in the same tent. Again, Fortier threw rocks and again the target was able to escape.
"The bear gave chase and I gave chase," he said. "At some point, Patricia tripped or the bear tripped her and was at her back. I was beside the bear's head and I stabbed it with an uppercut below the jaw in the neck a couple of times."
The bear ran off. While there was some fur and blood on the nine-centimetre blade, Fortier said he doesn't think he hurt the bear badly. Both Parenteau and Doyon, however, were bleeding badly. Fortier and his girlfriend lashed two canoes together and paddled eight kilometres along the river. Fortier travelled another three kilometres by foot to seek help in the nearest settlement.
Both Parenteau and Doyon were taken to a hospital and survived, although Parenteau had a gash within a centimetre of his jugular vein.
Fortier was one of 15 people to receive the Carnegie Medal, which is given to people who "risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others."
The other Canadian recipient of the medal was Ronald Joseph Crawford, 42, of Hamilton, who was killed Aug. 4, 2002, while trying to defend a sandwich-shop owner from a robber.
U.S. industrialist Andrew Carnegie started a hero fund in 1904 after being inspired by rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.
Action to save 2 from polar bear honoured
Canadian Press
A Quebec man was awarded a Carnegie Medal for bravery yesterday for saving two friends by fighting off a polar bear with a pocket knife two years ago on Baffin Island.
Dr. Eric Fortier, 34, of Gatineau, Que., used a pocket knife to attack a polar bear on Baffin Island, just south of the Arctic Circle, to save two friends who were being mauled.
"All of the research and all of the preparation I did leading up to the trip gave no indication that there were bears in the Soper (River) valley where we were canoeing," Fortier said.
Fortier, an orthodontist, learned there was at least one polar bear in the central region of Baffin Island in July 2001 when he felt what he thought was a dog leaning on his tent wall.
"My first thought was to push it away," he said. "A few seconds later my girlfriend saw the shadow of a bear's paw through the tent fly and then it started ripping through the ceiling."
The polar bear is more dangerous than most bears, who consider human beings a threat. The polar bear considers humans a snack, experts say.
The two screamed to frighten the bear and warn their friends in a tent several metres away but the bear ripped into that tent and began mauling 31-year-old Alain Parenteau.
"I grabbed my glasses and my knife and unzipped my tent and headed out," Fortier said.
The bear dwarfed the 6-foot-1 Parenteau, knocking him to the ground. Fortier threw a large rock at the bear, distracting it and allowing Parenteau to escape but it then turned on Patricia Doyon, 25, who was in the same tent. Again, Fortier threw rocks and again the target was able to escape.
"The bear gave chase and I gave chase," he said. "At some point, Patricia tripped or the bear tripped her and was at her back. I was beside the bear's head and I stabbed it with an uppercut below the jaw in the neck a couple of times."
The bear ran off. While there was some fur and blood on the nine-centimetre blade, Fortier said he doesn't think he hurt the bear badly. Both Parenteau and Doyon, however, were bleeding badly. Fortier and his girlfriend lashed two canoes together and paddled eight kilometres along the river. Fortier travelled another three kilometres by foot to seek help in the nearest settlement.
Both Parenteau and Doyon were taken to a hospital and survived, although Parenteau had a gash within a centimetre of his jugular vein.
Fortier was one of 15 people to receive the Carnegie Medal, which is given to people who "risk their lives to an extraordinary degree while saving or attempting to save the lives of others."
The other Canadian recipient of the medal was Ronald Joseph Crawford, 42, of Hamilton, who was killed Aug. 4, 2002, while trying to defend a sandwich-shop owner from a robber.
U.S. industrialist Andrew Carnegie started a hero fund in 1904 after being inspired by rescue stories from a mine disaster that killed 181 people.
Although that might really piss it off. 
