Florida woman doesn’t blame bear for attack

LAKE MARY, Fla. — A Florida woman who was attacked by a bear last weekend says she doesn’t want bears to be killed by wildlife officials for doing what wild animals do.

Terri Frana told Orlando television station WFTV on Wednesday that residents of her Lake Mary neighborhood need to understand the danger from bears.

“We need to learn to expect them at some point,” said Frana, 45.

More than a half dozen bears have been killed by wildlife officials since last Saturday’s attack. Wildlife officials say the bears pose a danger since they’ve grown accustomed to eating human food, either from garbage or fed by residents.

Frana said the bear pushed her down, bit her leg and then bit into her skull, trying to drag her into the woods.

“Those teeth were digging into my skull and I said, ‘Please God, don’t let this be my end,’” she said. “I said, ‘My kids need me. Please spare me.’ And the bear let me go.”

She ran inside her house, calling her escape “a miracle.” The bear charged at the screen door but was scared off by barking from her dog.

In the moments before the attack, Frana said there were five bear in her yard, including two that were eating out of trash cans in front of her house. One of those bears attacked her and when she had gone outside to yell to her children to come back inside the house after they had gone to a neighbor’s house. The children returned to the house unharmed after the bear attacked their mother.

Frana’s fall from the bear attack, jarred her cell phone into calling her husband who didn’t answer the phone. The voicemail message captured audio of Frana’s screams from the attack.