A man has survived a devastating bear attack that left him with a crushed jaw and a scalp wound so deep a doctor said he could see bone.
Allen Minish, 61, was out hiking in Alaska when he had a run-in with the brown bear.
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Describing the incident, he told KTUU: "All of the sudden, I looked up, and about 30 feet away, there was this nice-sized brown bear," he recounted.
"And it looked at me, and it came at me. And I thought, 'Great.'"
As he tried to get away from the bear, he fell to the ground and the bear lunged.
Allen decided to grab the lower part of the bear's jaw, explaining: "If you grab a dog's lower jaw, it can't bite you."
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He continued: "So I got a hole punched in my hand with its molar, but he couldn't close his mouth. And all he did was scratch my hand with his upper one.
"But then he twisted his head so fast, he knocked my hand free and when he did that, he lunged, grabbed my head, took the first bite, relaxed and took the second bite, that was stronger.
"And that's when he cracked all the bones and part of my head."
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Allen said the attack only lasted around 10 seconds before the bear walked off.
After calling 911, Allen took off his top and wrapped it around his head to try and slow the bleeding.
Miraculously, despite his injuries Allen was able to guide first responders to his location before walking himself away from the attack site, with some help from rescuers.
Allen was flown to Providence Alaska Medical Centre in Anchorage, where he underwent four-and-a-half hours' worth of surgery due to his injuries.
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Allen sustained a crushed jaw, deep scalp wound, multiple other lacerations, which required 100 stitches, and a wound to his right eye.
He added: "I guess I feel lucky.
"In all honesty, it wouldn't have mattered either way. You know, if it killed me, it killed me.
"I had a good life. I'm moving on.
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"It didn't kill me, so now let's move on to the other direction of trying to stay alive."
Featured Image Credit: KTUU