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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Woman takes on polar bear to save 7-year-old
2006-02-23
Lydia Angyiou's kids sure won't be giving her much trouble any more now that they've seen her wrestle a 700-pound polar bear.

Angyiou lives in Ivujivik, a village of 300 people on the shore of Hudson Bay in northern Quebec. One Wednesday evening earlier this month, Angyiou was walking near the village community center with her two sons when a group of children playing street hockey nearby started shouting and pointing frantically. Angyiou, 41, turned around and saw a polar bear sizing up her 7-year-old son.

She told the children to run and raced around to get between the bear and her son. Then she started kicking and punching the animal, according to police reports. In a flash, the bear swatted her in the face and she fell on her back. With the bear on top of her, Angyiou began kicking her legs in a bicycle motion. She was swatted once more and rolled over, but the bear moved toward her again.

Siqualuk Ainalik heard the commotion and came rushing over.
Seeing Angyiou wrestling with the bear, he ran to his brother's home, grabbed a rifle and headed back to the street. He fired a few warning shots. The sound diverted the bear's attention from Angyiou just long enough for him to aim and fire again. According to police, Ainalik fired four shots into the bear before it finally died.

With the help of some neighbors, Angyiou made it to the home of Nelson Conn, a constable with the Kativik Regional Police Force.

"She came in in a panic," Conn recalled. "She was obviously in shock. She was saying 'Bear. Bear.' I just took her over to our nursing station and I asked where and if the bear was dead. She said, 'Yes.' "

Remarkably, Angyiou suffered only a couple of scratches and a black eye. She and the local police have been fielding calls from across Canada ever since the incident first was reported last week in the Nunatsiaq News.

Meanwhile villagers still are marveling at her courage and there is talk of nominating her for a bravery medal. "I've been here 24 years and I've never seen this before," said Larry Hubert, a regional captain with the police force who arrived on the scene just after the bear was shot. "For sure, she saved the kids' lives."

Hubert has known Angyiou for 15 years and he can't believe she took on a bear. He said the bear measured eight feet in length and weighed at least 700 pounds.

Angyiou "is about five-foot nothing and 90 pounds on a wet day," Hubert said with a laugh. "She's pretty quiet. I'm surprised she went and did this. But I guess when your back is up against the wall, I guess we come up with super-human strength."

Ivujivik is Quebec's northernmost community, situated on a peninsula where the Hudson Bay meets the Hudson Strait. While polar bears roam the giant ice packs that float just off shore, Hubert said it's rare for them to wander into the village.
Posted by:DanNY

#7  Well, it sounds like this lady's got what it takes - to be a cartoonist in the 21st Century world. Or - maybe newspaper editor.

More power to her.
Posted by: Lone Ranger   2006-02-23 21:44  

#6  How about a 44 magnum or 454 Casull. Just for a walking about gun.

Remember to a large Bear you are just food if they are hungry enough and just in their way if they are not.
Posted by: Sock Puppet O' Doom   2006-02-23 19:49  

#5  I have too many polar bear pics to choose from.
Posted by: .com   2006-02-23 19:36  

#4  Polar bears are nothing to mess with. One of they boys that went to high school in the town I lived in got attacked and half eaten by a polar bear at Point Lay in northwest Alaska. He and his girlfriend were walking home and the bear attacked. He told his girlfriend to skidaddle and she did while he fought off the bear. Villagers heard the commotion and came out and shot the bear. A fish and game necropsy found that the bear was starving. There was no fat on the animal except a little on the heart.

I have flown over a bunch near Cape Churchill on Hudson Bay, glad the engine was running fine...heh. They are impressive animals. Grizzly man Timothy Treadwell wouldn't get close to these party animals! Even had one wandering around the airport that day in Churchill.
Posted by: Al-Aska Paul   2006-02-23 18:46  

#3  I hope she gets the rug. She earned it.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2006-02-23 18:25  

#2  sounds like a nominee for Defense Minister
Posted by: Frank G   2006-02-23 18:21  

#1  Dude, hands down, my mom is tougher than yours.
Posted by: Jimmy Angyiou   2006-02-23 18:05  

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