Hunter describes horrifying moment blood-thirsty bear chewed on his head before ripping off his nose and mouth
Russian Alexei Koptyakov, 29, had skull reconstructed with part of his pelvis
A MAN has revealed the terrifying moment he heard bones in his head cracking – as he was being eaten by a blood-thirsty bear.
Russian hunter Alexei Koptyakov miraculously survived the shocking attack and had his chewed skull reconstructed with part of his pelvis.
The 29-year-old also had his nose and mouth ripped off by the flesh-eating predator.
The ruthless mauling he suffered last year has been compared to Oscar winning film 'The Revenant'.
Alexei escaped death after two brutal assaults by the angry beast and was so horrendously injured that several cars refused to stop after he had managed to crawl to a nearby road.
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He said: "I was walking back from a hunt when I heard my dog Thunder pickup a scent, and start barking.
“I thought it might be a bird and when I checked it out I found him standing outside a small cave.
“But inside there was a huge bear, and when it came out it went straight for me."
Stunned by the sight of the powerful bear, Alexei stepped backwards and slipped on the wet stone which led to his gun going off.
He said: "I thought the sound would scare the bear off, but it actually made it even more angry and it came at me even faster.
“I tried to reload the gun, but by then it was already on me.
“I managed to get one blow at the bear hitting it with the gun, and then it sank its teeth into my head.
"I tried to put my hands on my head, but it bit both of my hands and I couldn't use them after that to defend myself as it bit me on the head again.
“I curled into a ball, and could hear my bones cracking. That point I didn't expect to live any longer,
“I was hoping it would eat me quickly so I wouldn't suffer too much."
The bear continued to maul the poor Russian for several minutes before lumbering off into the forest.
But seconds later it had rushed back out of the woodland and pounced on him again.
After falling unconscious Alexei said it was difficult to remember much after that, but he does remember the bear leaving for the second time.
He was finally rescued by a tourist named Alexander Deryugin from St Petersburg.
The battered hunter was treated in a specialised hospital that deals with jaw injuries in the city of Yekaterinburg in central Russia where he spent five days in intensive care.
And with no nose and no mouth it took 11 hours for doctors to stabilise him in emergency surgery.
Alexei’s surgeon Alexie Dikarev said: "Afterwards he could not swallow or chew any food."
Doctors used parts of the brave man's pelvis bones in order to reconstruct his jaw.
After the extensive surgery Alexei says he is now taking his hunting dog back into the woods to look for wild animals.
And while he has yet to meet any bears, he says he is filled with fear whenever he hears a noise.
He said: "Everything is fine when I hike across clearing in the woods.
“But when there are uprooted tree trunks, or trunks broken by wind, I can't stop thinking, what if there is a bear behind a tree trunk.
"I am shaking from fear at moments like these.
“After this I begin to think about giving up the hunting.
“But when the weekend comes, I take my shotgun and go in the forest again."
The determined Russian is now back working as a nurse while using his weekends to pursue his dangerous hobby.
"I can't imagine my life without the forest," he said.
"I go into the forest every weekend to hunt or just to hike. If I am not doing it, I feel like something is missing in my life.”
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